Photo: Cei Willis
The internet may be great for you, with movshare links and fascinating 'Which Neighbours character are you' quizzes, but think of those little souls in corporate PR and lobbying. These lobbyists are paid handsomely by various types, some of whom are the worst in the world, to ensure that governments see things the way they want them to.
In the old days, these champion dictators‑killers and people who pollute indiscriminately had the ability to talk to politicians and change their way of thinking to their benefit, during meals with abundant alcohol in luxurious private clubs. Today, they are forced to do the dirty work watching the harsh glow of a laptop screen, instead of the more persuasive atmospheric meeting spots with candlelight and expensive whiskey.
In the world of screaming via Twitter, citizen journalism (a lobbyist described it as «extremely annoying») and online petitions for some cause, where millions of signatures are gathered within a few hours, the game of backstage pressure (lobbying) has changed. A prominent lobbyist in the advertising field is James Bethell, whose company Westbourne Communications turns against what it calls «insurrection tactics» of online participants in campaigns (‘insurrection’ here means ‘I have a negative opinion and a blog/ Twitter account’ and not guerrilla warfare). Among their current clients is Cuadrilla, an oil and natural gas extraction company that is trying to convince residents in Lancashire and Sussex to accept the idea of the hydraulic fracturing method it plans to impose in order to extract natural gas, as well as that it will fill the area’s wells with poisonous water, beneath their own homes. Westbourne also led the campaign to defend the creation of the HS2 railway line against local communities, who would probably prefer not to have trains passing behind their houses at 125 miles per hour. Whether it is a new runway at the airport, a mining permit, or a railway connection worth €51.5 billion, government approval is needed — which means a company like Westbourne is hired to stifle the protest.
Unfortunately for lobbyists, “now, almost everyone in the country has become a self-proclaimed campaigner,” as Bethel said in an interview with Radio 4in 2011. “Everyone has seen The West Wing and has a Google account, so they have the intelligence and the strategy, plus the technology, to set up a campaign.” So how do you combat this scourge of democratic, grassroots activism?
«You must fight them in every corner of the street» advises Bethell. «You can't sit and watch your opponents wander around and do whatever they want. You must get out into the arena, use their tactics and stay ahead of them».
If we try to explain the analogy in military terms, it is clear that the Internet is a critical battlefield. In fact, it is a useful tool for lobbyists when it comes to discovering who their opponent is. While their surveillance techniques may not be on the British intelligence agency GCHQ's list, corporate monitoring of citizen-activists is an ongoing tactic and investment capital in this sector is very significant. Today, advertising lobbyists use advanced surveillance systems designed to detect online threats. This means that if you slander a large company in 140 characters, the odds are they will find it. Their job is then to sift through the sea of online disgruntled users and find those who "wield influence"».
«The person who makes a lot of noise is probably not the one who exerts influence» said Mike Seymour, former head of the crisis management department at Edelman, a giant company in the public relations and lobbying space, to his colleagues who were watching a conference opposite the British Parliament, in November 2011. «You must find the one who exerts influence, especially if they are rallying people against us» His view became more convincing because of the events unfolding in the city. As he spoke, Occupy movement protesters were becoming top news worldwide. Seymour explained that when those who wield influence are identified «listening points» are placed out there to «catch the first warning signals» of activist activity.
From the moment they have this information, lobbyists can get a job. Part of Westbourne's response to HS2 critics was «to turn its attention» and address the «unforeseeable» press releases, as Bethell explained to high‑speed supporters in the USA. More generally, Westbourne emphasized to American lobbyists the need to «eliminate» the critical voices with «the precision of a free shooter», «to terrorize them», as he explained to a distinguished audience at a 2012 conference. Westbourne engages in aggressive disinformation campaigns that include creating a feeling among opponents that whatever they say will «be fragmented». This is an «exhaustive but crucial» part of a successful pressure exercise, Bethell says.
Being an online Malcolm Tucker (grumpy and scheming communications manager in the movie «In the Loop») is something, but it is generally accepted among lobbyists that the only way to fight the «negative information» of activists on the internet is with positive information. This is not as nice as it sounds.
Today there are hundreds of companies that offer manipulation of Google searches to make finding publications of critical content almost impossible. The promotional video for such a company, Reputation Changer, promises to «erase» the negative content that exists against someone. This is done by creating texts with new, positive content that deceives search engines, pushing the ‘fake’ content above the negative, and thus leading the overall criticism results to be low in Google's statistics (based on the fact that few of us click beyond the first page of results).
BP, for example, was found to be manipulating Google in the wake of the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill. What BP appears to have been trying to do was to push its message, “Learn more about how BP is helping,” to the top of Google searches related to the spill. This way, NGOs and affected communities with much smaller pockets couldn’t get their own message across: “Look how badly BP screwed us.”
The companies that do lobbying also have a connection with the business that has been set up for search engine optimization. They create fake blogs for clients, which appear to have been created by some independent source. Press releases are sent that a journalist will not see, so that there is something else for one to read on Google, in cases where a client is being threatened. «On the internet, you must constantly invent new content that can help keep the texts with negative information low» advised a lobbyist from the global firm Burson-Marsteller to his colleagues in 2013, during a discussion on how the “foot‑talk” discussion will be won. «Of course, we do it too» says Bell Pottinger, top veteran lobbyist and the well‑known expert Tim Bell in an interview. «Everyone wants the best information to appear at the top of the page».
Another favorite tactic of lobbyists is the manipulation of Wikipedia, a website widely loathed in the industry for its unprecedented reach and the fact that a small community of editors can decide whether a company has “contradictions” on its own wiki page or not. “A ridiculous organization… created by a bunch of nerds,” is Tim Bell’s position. Their company’s lobbyists are busier than most on Wikipedia. Accounts associated with Bell Pottinger were found to have hijacked the profiles of, among others, The Paramount Group, an arms manufacturer and partner, at least two major financial firms, and the founder of Carter-Ruck, who are considered experts in defamation.
“It’s important for Wikipedia to recognize that we are a valuable source of accurate information,” Bell told PR Week. This is coming from someone whose company is known for reshaping the reputations of dictators, repressive governments, polluting oil companies, and weapons industries around corruption allegations, as well as winning a contract from the US administration in Iraq to promote the idea of democracy.
The efforts by lobbyists to manage information like this are not new. What has changed is the complexity of technology and the new tactics it provides them, such as creating fake blogs, or online groups «front». The reach of the so‑called “astroturf” campaigns—where lobbyists fabricate false popular support—is also expanding on the internet.
According to another leading British lobbying firm, Tory peer Peter Gummer, lobbyists are trying to make the digital space their own. He assured delegates at the Public20th Relations World Congress inDubai in 2012: “There is no reason why we shouldn’t. This is our moment.”
Tasmin Cave and Andy Rowell have written a whole book on this subject. It's called A Quiet Word: Lobbying, Crony Capitalism and Broken Politics in Britain and is published by Bodley Head. You can buy it here.
