Target Voter: Are online grassroots campaigns really spontaneous supporters or just ‘astroturfing’?

It’s known as “astroturfing” – campaigns which appear to come from so-called grassroots activists, but in fact are linked to political parties.

So while  the official campaigns are bombarding voters with messages on social media, there are also smaller groups amplifying their messages. So are they truly independent?

As part of our Target Voter series, we’ve investigated one such organisation flagged up by our viewers. It is supporting the Conservatives, but they insist it is completely independent of the party.