FACEBOOK founder Mark Zuckerberg, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and WA agronomist and genetically modified (GM) crop technology proponent Bill Crabtree.
Scratching your head trying to find the link? An elephant stamp if you guessed that all have had false Twitter accounts set up in their name.
It may be more the province of the influential and famous, but Mr Crabtree has had the dubious honour of joining the select group of those with a parody Twitter account – and he wants it to stop.
The false account @NOT1LLBILL is designed to be close to Mr Crabtree’s own handle @NoTillBill, and tweets about similar GM-themed issues.
The account now has 495 followers, and Mr Crabtree is not sure how many are following under the impression it is really him.
“I get people saying to me, I was pretty sure it wasn’t you, but not 100pc.”
The tweets are generally fulsome praises of GM technology, ideologically in line with Mr Crabtree’s own controversial and hardline support of GM.
“They’ve been quite clever with what they’ve tweeted, it’s over the top, but its not so unbelievable that those reading it would automatically know its not me.”
Mr Crabtree has no idea who is behind the false account. He said he suspected it would be anti-GM campaigners, but admitted he had no concrete proof.
He said he had contacted Twitter to get them to shut the account down and tell him who is behind it.
“I’ve gone through all that process, so hopefully it can resolve itself soon.
“I initially wasn’t too worried, but it's getting big enough now that it is having a negative impact on my professional reputation.”
Fairfax Ag Media contacted @NOT1LLBILL via Twitter to ask why the account had been set up, but the account holder declined to comment.
(NB: The REAL Gregor Heard)
Gregor Heard
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
