This week the website Byline Media published an investigation into Russian Twitter troll accounts supposedly being used to subvert British democracy. Their story looked at one account, @Didgery77332, which purports to be based in Scotland. Byline reported that, due to the account’s support for Brexit, its tendency to retweet “Russian-inspired disinformation” and its poor grasp of the English language, @Didgery77332 was a Russian troll account:

“There’s a pretty convincing case Didgery is indeed a Russian troll… On balance, at the higher end of the probability scale, it was a fair assessment that this account appears to be a foreign-based troll pushing Russian messaging.”

Well, the Scotsman has checked out Byline’s report, and worked out that @Didgery77332 is actually a security guard and father based in Glasgow. The paper quickly found him and spoke to him:

“It’s not difficult to track me down. People might not agree with my opinions, but that doesn’t make me a Russian troll. I work 12 hour shifts, often standing at a gate for hours on end – posting on Twitter helps pass the time.”

A Byline conspiracy theory falls apart again…