Pro-port lobby used ‘bots’ to cheat polls
Cayman cruise ship passengers visit George Town
(CNS): The battle between those who oppose the government’s proposal to develop a cruise berthing facility in central George Town and those supporting the project has been intensifying on social media of late, and manipulating public opinion is becoming a key part of the polarised positions. In a straw online poll last week on a local radio station’s Facebook page the results did a sudden about turn from 80% against the development to 34% after a surge of votes over a 24-hour period from what appeared to be ‘bots’ using false profile pages originating in South East Asia in favour of the project.
When BobFM, one of Hurley’s Media’s stations, did a poll on their social media pages, local voters were largely indicating their objection to the project. But when it did a sudden about-face, it was easy for the page administrators to realise those votes were not coming from Cayman and the profiles appeared largely fake.
Since then, other social media polls have also been hacked in the same way — a common challenge for online straw polls. Trying to gauge genuine public opinion on this or any subject using online polls has become notoriously unreliable, given how easy it is to manipulate them for those with the time or the money.
In 2015 a direct survey (the only official public consultation the government ever commissioned) revealed that almost three-quarters of the respondents did not want the dock. What limited support for the project there was came mostly from people associated with Kirk Freeport.
The Department of Environment in partnership with Baird conducted the ‘hard-copy’ survey and received 473 direct responses, with 73% opposed to the proposal. From the 111 individuals who offered their support, almost 80 of those people were connected to the downtown retailer. Several of those who submitted written comments said they were clerks and sales associates on work permits who wanted the piers hoping it would lead to an increase in sales commission.
Although several online petitions have been conducted over the last few years that have been opposed to the cruise port project, none of them can be verified because the possibility of manipulation of those also remains high. But the latest petition, which requires those signing to give their voter registration number, cannot be hacked.
While the petition is asking for a referendum and not whether or not people support the project, since it began last month it has been edging each week towards the required 5,281 signatures to trigger a national ballot, which will be a sure way for government to find out the real numbers.
Those against the project have also begun pushing the theory that the opposition to the project is entirely funded by the tender operators, but after more than a decade of following the cruise berthing facility, CNS has found no evidence to support that theory.
We have spoken to dive operators, environmental activists, downtown merchants, taxi and tour operators, visitors, ordinary residents with very little connections to tourism and young people who have expressed their opposition to the project for many different reasons.
This week Save Cayman, a grass-roots conservationist group and one of the first NGOs in Cayman to oppose the project, refuted any connections to the tender operators and explained who they were.
“We are educated, independently minded young Caymanians, who wish to see the responsible and sustainable development of our wonderful nation. It is our future in the balance and we refuse to have a price tag put on our environment or our people,” said Gabriella Hernandez, one of the many young people involved in the movement.
“We believe in healthy debates based on established facts. We encourage the public to be informed and have their say in how we develop our islands, as the current unsustainable model we are seeking will have irreversible environmental and socio-economic ramifications.”
And it is the damage to the marine environment that remains a significant reason for the opposition, as well as the knock-on impact on the infrastructure if the Cayman Islands had a pier that could accommodate four ships all carrying 6,000 people in one day. However, concerns about the cost and the process, as well as who will be building and managing the project, have also emerged as serious causes for concern.
The opposition begins a series of public meetings this week where they plan to share with the public all of the documentation they have now managed to collect. Some of that has been in the public domain and covers issues such as the misleading information government has given about the extent of the environmental damage (even after the redesign), the justifications given for embarking on the development of piers, and the anticipated costs.
More recently, questions have emerged about the bidding process and the lack of transparency regarding the discussions with the various developers since the original bid went out for interested parties to pre-qualify.
Government has been reluctant to answer the key questions surrounding this project and its emphatic rejection of a government-supported referendum to answer the real question of public support fuels further suspicions.
In the end, the only way of getting an answer to this national question is via the ballot box and whether the government supports it or not, with well over 3,000 voters having signed up asking for a referendum, that is starting to look like a serious possibility
See opposition meeting schedule here
Category: Business, development, Local News, Tourism
Hey CNS? You claim you’ve found no evidence to support the theory that ‘the opposition to the project is entirely funded by the tender operators.’ If that’s the case why is Save Cayman’s registered address Sunset House, which just happens to be owned by the tender operator?
And since Save Cayman is refuting ANY connections to the tender operators, perhaps they should explain that one too.
Coincidence? None so blind as those who will not see.
Fake accounts with fake IP’s influencing public opinion
Called this some time ago… knew that these pro port results were all fictitious … there is literally not a single person you speak to face to face that is in favor of this …
BUILD THE DOCK
BEEP BOP BOOP, I’M A ROBOT.
Also, NO
Dear Goverment: You were elected to do a job, one of the main issue on the table being to build the dock. Decades have passed, please be the government *that makes it happen* and win re-election hands down.
Funny, they are more likely to start the project then leave a half built carcass in the centre of GT for 10 years then come back to the project and ask for praises and kudos for finally getting it done 10 years later
Like the Dr. Hortor Memorial Hospital, for example?
It costs money to wage an opposition charge. Follow the money to see who’s funding it and why.
Liars to the right of us.
Vested interests to the left,
Here we are stuck in the middle with Chec.
Tell me again how much you want the Port as I sit in traffic at 8:32 STILL trying to get to work.
About their poles , I am going to send 50 stripper dancing poles for them, so they can get their true results .
One of the polls shows that it was the referendum group that was cheating, how come you don’t report that?
The referendum group is cheating?
Meanwhile they are going through the painstaking process of collecting 5000+ Caymanian signatures
How stupid are you
They have no interest in online polls by the end of the month they will have enough signatures to trigger the referendum and stupid online polls won’t matter
anon 143 then you will generate referendum where you will lose. you are struggling to get those 5000 votes but you need twice that much in the referendum.
I am a GT retailer, and I do not want the dock. It takes 20 Carnival Cruisers to equal one stay over visitor. I make most of my sales after the ships leave.
The majority of Cruisers do not have the disposable income to spend more than $20 on a single purchase. They are largely unsophisticated, and marginally educated.
If I have to be polite to one more trailer rat who thinks Cayman is Bangladesh I will cry. Why do we want more?
Maybe if the dock gave us higher end ships it would be worth considering, but that is not the case. We will just have more uneducated cheap people clogging GT, and wasting our time.
And
Here’s a thought folks, isn’t there a possibility that the pushing for the building of these piers is based on other threats to our overall econonomy. Lest we forget we are working on not being blacklisted, as well as fighting the cause on the rammed down our throats public tegistry etc. we must realize that if these external initiatives bear fruit we could stand to lose a substantial amount of business, and you ask where to, well onshore of course which does us absolutely no good
So is it possible that the Government that many are defaming knows of the impending doom and therefore irs trying to offset its long term effect by pursuing these piers and wooing the shipping industry in general with port expansion and perhaps even cruise ship registration here in. cayman and yes having these Islands as a starting point for cruises a proposition discussed ions ago.
Well I don’t know but I will not judge the government as being corrupt or either as. Ding highly altruistic, but in the scheme of events past and those to come these thoughts may not be too far fetched.
Ok I will now depart my jet and fly away and at some point tomorrow will read your ever so disgusting replies to sensible suppositions. Cheers natives and others!
Very valid point @And. That maybe true but I won’t plaster some disgusting reply but will say this. That $200 million used on a port that is being looked upon as the possibly saving grace from us being blacklisted for lack of economic growth. Wouldn’t using that money to develop GT be a better use?
Here is my “penny for your thoughts” moment and I know some of you will be expecting change.
1.) Revamp GT
– Add more shopping and eating options for the tourists other than $1000 watches and $20 hamburgers for example.
– Promote our culture with live historical attractions.
– Expand the museum
– Promote music and art in live performances to help keep the tourists that come off the ship but don’t go on excursions in town longer than simply a once around and back on the boat. Keeping them entertained and onshore.
– Promote the turtle farm, perhaps have a display in town with a turtle tank with just a few turtles for a bit of education as an incentive to offer tours to the farm itself and the other attractions by it.
– Create a sort of interactive animal exhibit of local wildlife for the young ones. (Yes insert pay $10 to pet a chicken joke here…)
– Offer steel drum classes/demonstrations for the musically interested.
– Develop ocean history events like schooner tours around the island like the helicopter tours, they can put on shows and show the tourist what our seafaring history is all about.
2.) Trade schools & education
– Offer courses in hands on trades such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, mechanics giving people the livable skills to open their own businesses.
– Take a serious, non-BS, non-“what I think” or “what I believe things should be” view of education on the island. Look at other countries where education is proven successful and adopt their model of learning. And actually back the schools and give them to tools they need.
3.) Government backed start up loans for new businesses.
– Make it CI$25,000 to say CI$75,000 to finance small businesses and offer them benefits (duty concessions, etc) to help promote it’s growth.
4.) Historical development
– Grow/develop/restore historical sites on the islands to increase number of tourist attractions.
5.) Create an industry
– Bring a large scale manufacturing/assembly/farming industry to Cayman, this will create jobs and a possible source of revenue for the CIG.
All of these will not only create jobs but also careers that will have longer reaching impacts on the population and the economic growth of the island and it’s people. These will increase the potential to raise the average spending amount of the average cruise tourist, employ more people in a meaningful way, increase the socio and economic value of GT which will show the CIG is actively interested in economic growth in Cayman.
None of this is far fetched and as much as my ideas for GT makes it sound like a mini-Disney. Is that really such a bad thing? If it creates jobs, puts money in the pockets of the people and shows off our culture and is entertaining.. Is it really that horrible a bad idea?
@11:13 long winded but I agree, those are much better ideas to spend that money on and I also agree it will keep the tourists from doing a walk around town one time and then back on the ship because they’ve seen it all and done it all and bought none at all. We would be lucky to turn into a mini-Disney. LOL can you imagine if we made mascots? Sir Turtle, Conch Shell Joe, Susie the Stingray and Bobo the local.
That’s the point “retailer”! If you attended the public meeting last Wednesday night to learn the FACTS, you would have learned that RCCL states that the Iasis class ships notninly carry more passengers but these passengers are also more affluent and spend more. RCCL said Jamaica is already experiencing a higher spend. If I recall correctly I think he said the spend was up from $115/pp to $150/pp. Certainly that would benefit you and your business!
People are sadly misguided in believing that the bigger ships are higher end. They are newer so attract a slightly higher spending passenger, but as they get older this will change. These are by no means luxury vessels. If you were so interested in gathering real information and not just being fed a line you would know this. RCCL have three cruise lines within their portfolio – Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara. Of the three the smallest ships, Azamara, are the luxury ships and Celebrity, also smaller than Oasis ships, are the next step down. The rest cover the entry price point for their brands.
The higher spend is on the cost of the cruise. Food, drinks, shopping, jewelry, bars, restaurants, entertainment and everything else is provided on the ship. Meaning the spending of those passengers coming onshore will be the same <$100 per head. Spent on one excursion and a couple of fridge magnets.
Please tell us 8:22 where the people spend the $115 on this island? Stand and watch them queuing to leave the island with nothing in their hands except a bottle of water? GT Retailer says , “It takes 20 Carnival Cruisers to equal one stay over visitor.”
6.15pm Maybe they are wearing it, on their backs, wrists, or necks.
Anonymous 7 :54 pm , I agree and very well said , but I would have used my full name and store address and challenged anyone to do or say anything against my rights for standing up for what is right and true .
I think that by Caymanians caving to “FEAR” has created much problems for them and Islands .
Just look at what is happening in a decision that have to be made by the REGISTERED VOTERS OF CAYMAN ISLANDS , here we have everyone in the world including people that don’t know if they would be able to continue to reside in Cayman after next year interfering in this major decision. They should be charged with TREASON against the people and the environment .
This whole cruise pier has become another Russia investigation , here in the USA the Democrats claimed that the Russians interfered in the Election , but I think that it was the Americans you know who, same thing is happening in Cayman with petition/referendum .
I believe that what should be done in this situation is that the People/voters/Caymanians should do is to get the names of who is interfering in this major decision , and protest that they be removed , to set a precedent that while in Cayman do as the Caymanian do and protect the future of the Islands and the environment , and mind your own business.
I don’t know what everyone else thinks about this interference from the people outside of who has the rights in the decision , is a very serious act , just imagine if this was some other issue , like doing a petition for referendum for INDEPENDENCE ..
You can thumb this comment down or up and I don’t care because this is my personal opinion and how I feel about your actions on this issue .
Sincerely,
Ron Ebanks .
Ron, you do realize that you are responding to an anti port bot don’t you?
You are so dumb that you can’t see that I am talking to you too .
As a fellow GT retailer, I fully agree. My business has better days with less ships. Hotel guests tend to steer clear of GT when it is busy and we all lose out. And don’t get me started on the chances of selling them anything anywhere near the start of their cruise.
With your attitude, I am not surprised. Fact is, there are lots of affluent people on the cruises. Fact is there isn’t much to buy here. and the duty free is not a great bargain any longer, plus you have no recourse if you buy. Downtown is ugly hot and shadeless. The mexican stops are more interesting.
7.54pm Wow. You just have to be bot. An anti-port bot, but bot nonetheless .
https://cruiseradio.net/cruise-lines-issue-warning-to-grand-cayman/
read up
Fake news.
You need to read Reyna’s comment very carefully because there’s a not so subtle message in it.
He’s quoted as saying saying, “We don’t bring the Oasis-class ships to the Cayman Islands.” It’s a simple statement and not, as many people are claiming, a threat that, “If you don’t build the dock we won’t bring the Oasis-class ships to the Cayman Islands.” There’s no promise there that if the dock is built the mega-liners will come here.
In fact I didn’t think he was telling us anything that anyone who bothered to study the cruise line itineraries couldn’t have figured out already – the cruise profiles for the mega-liners in the Caribbean do not include short stopovers at out of the way places like Grand Cayman. We’re already in a situation where the larger cruise ships spend 70%-80% of a trip at sea and the cruise lines are now offering what are referred to as ‘cruises to nowhere’. These larger vessels are effectively self-contained floating resorts that make most of their income at sea and what he was saying was that they don’t need us or the proposed dock.
Like I’d believe ANYTHING that a cruise line tries to say.. They throw trash out at sea and then lie about it. Even with video evidence! Just ask their staff.
I just read where one line threw a sashing machine overboard at night. The witness wouldn’t report it for fear of being thrown over with it!
6 :49 pm can’t you read that and understand that article was payed for by cruise line , and that article had to say what the Cruise Lines wants it to say . You need to read and understand what you read .
It’s almost word for word what our MLAs are saying, and I don’t trust either.
Perhaps the cruise line bosses should listen to their own passengers. The other ports on this itinerary tend to get big thumbs down from our visitors for the overall experience (for a number of reasons).
Both sides of the debate got caught red handed. Money on both sides. Don’t know why anyone bothers with online polls anyway
China is an oppressive, corrupt, communist regime.
The fact that our leaders are courting their favour speaks volumes about our leaders.
Chinese debt trap diplomacy should only be for blind fools, not us.
It would take an arrogant bunch of uneducated morons to saddle us with a Chinese-built port.
The red scare is long gone buddy
You’ll find that China is a lot more capitalistic than most people realize
In your dreams. Keep living in your illusion.
“It would take an arrogant bunch of uneducated morons to saddle us with a Chinese-built port.” Or a combination of that and greedy, unscrupulous or just downright corrupt people. So we should b perfectly OK looking at the combination of highly talented and moral people we have in the LA.
I believe we may have that “arrogant bunch of uneducated morons”, 5:28 pm!
You guys should maybe take a look at cayman marl road showing the votes against the port as the fake ones.
Cayman Marl Road should have the ability to look at the ISP numbers of their people commenting/voting on their website and see where the votes/comments are coming from.
If I was buying bots and I got called out for it, the easiest thing to do would be buy more bots for the opposing side
Caymanians, do you need any further evidence that Cayman’s wealthy elite do not care about your future, but only their own? The money that will be spent to build a new port facility will directly benefit those Caymanians that are already wealthy. That money should be spent educating your children so that they can compete in the workforce of their own homeland! Insist that YOUR government spend YOUR money to benefit YOU!
Paper Caymanian, Based on the ones who were the noisiest and angry looking the ELITE are the oneswho were leading the objections at the Wednesday meeting.
That’s right! And Let’s keep the tender cash coming right where it belongs!
I agree with you Paper Caymanian but hope that you realize you are describing the anti port leadership to a tee.Business owners and kids of business owners. The tender operators are million dollar earners so they also must be included. Thanks for speaking up.
Wish we could have something firm to expose the intent.
The Unity Govt does not have a mandate. It is a mash up of at least 3 different groups of politicians, nobe of who “won” the last election.
For Minister Moses is misleading the public to say that they have a mandate to build the dock.
I did not vote for a gowment with McKeeva in it. Yet Premier Alden and Dep. Premier Moses CHOSE to join with McKeeva to form this gowment.
You did not have a have a mandate to join with McKeeva. You did that for selfish reasons and self preservation as MLAs.
Now, after making such a deal, they HAVE to allow CHEC as one of the bidders – flying FULL in the face of what they (Alden and Moses) were complaining about in 2009 – 2012 when they were in Opposition and McKeeva was Premier and dealing with CHEC.
My people, Alden and Moses will not turn back now. Alden cant control Moses, who is the real Premier here.
Our only hope now is to sign the petition for a referendum so we can get some more info about the cruise dock proposal.
At least find out what you are getting into with this deal by Premier Moses.
Listen ona leave Kiki alone, ona don’t see he reformed now he speaks as a mout piece for Chinese companies with da boy Leslie and he prays on Facebook. What a hopeless mess dis country in. I wonder if he ga a Chinese passport 2. Ah well dats politricks nah!
Just another day in West Bay.
Anonymous 2 :53 pm , Amen , and see what Alden is saying to the UK today , they aren’t going to bully Cayman , I think that he’s meaning that to Caymanians too, that they are not going to bully his arrogance too .
this government was formed because your people could not form a government, so this is what we got.
do you think a referendum can make the government tell more than what they want?
2.53pm. ” I did not vote for a gowment with McKeeva in it. Yet Premier Alden and Dep. Premier Moses CHOSE to join with McKeeva to form this gowment.” That right there is what these objections are all about.
Save Cayman wrote on their page that red sails and sunset house, both owned by Adrian briggs funded the start up of save cayman
Environmental NGO got money from businesses interested in preserving the environment
Who could have guessed
In other news Meals on Wheels gets donations from persons interested in preventing malnutrition and hunger in the elderly and incapable
Just coincidental that several of the donating businesses own the polluting tenders?
Tender companies will still have plenty of business in the 3 year period it takes to build the docks
and they will still have plenty of business after there will only be 4 spots for ships and Cayman has multiple days per month already with 5 or more ships scheduled for one day
aka we will still need the tender companies and I am sure when their contracts are renegotiated if the port becomes a reality they will use their powers as a monopolistic service provider(s) to jack up the prices
at the end of the day these tender companies won’t be hurting for cash because the government will still need their services multiple times per month
HAHAHAHAHA!!! oh lordy I just chocked on my coffee The TENDERS are polluting now???? HAHAHAHA!! That’s rich. Do your research on how much cruise ships pollute the ENTIRE ocean. Imbecile!
The difference being that there is no money to be made in making the elderly and incapable hungry, so no one complains about Meals on Wheels, but there sure is a lot of cash in doing things that destroy the environment, so people who try and protect attract attacks.
The only people complaining are the ones trying to line their own pockets instead or the ones that think they will personally and directly benefit from cruise berthing
Jotnar, Adrian and his Tender boats are the only ones guaranteed to make money when cruisers come ashore; even if the cruisers don’t spend a penny on shore. Its like taking a taxi from your hotel in to town just to window shop, only the people doing the transportation makes any money.
they also own the tenders lol
Anonymous 2:28pm , seems like you are against Adrian Briggs starting , the save Cayman. That’s Adrian rights , he is a Caymanian , and a responsible Caymanian , and a registered voter, and I wish that everyone else was like him .
Ron, the Kirkconnells are Caymanians too and have those same rights but somehow THEY are painted as evil for exercising those rights.
You mean spending money to influence public and CI government to make decisions that will benefit his business?
Marl road poll shows thousands of bot votes against the port. Anything from south east asia is likely chec not cayman based.
No surprises there. The prime candidate for the contract is CHEC and their track record is very well documented. Time for the UK to step in and launch a fraud investigation into the whole project maybe?
NOT maybe – DEFINITELY!
Well said. Where’s the Governor when we need him?
Oh.
Anonymous 6 :31pm , sitting on his throne agreeing with the cartel. But I think he is a poor example of a Governor . Why hasn’t he said one word about what is going on in the Islands about this pier project and fiasco. I believe that he is too scared to speak up after seeing what happened to Mr. Choudhury .
Believe there are 3 prime candidates remaining , not one.
Whether the port project is right or wrong, the only SAFE way to ensure it isn’t a democratic, political, economic and environmental catastrophe of a project, is run a referendum, laying out all of the studies, reports, rationales etc from BOTH sides in ONE trusted place and then hold a proper controlled vote. If the port is genuinely the right thing it will win. If too much concern remains, it won’t, and that will be the right, democratic result for Cayman.
that is what you are praying for
CHEC and there communist masters are hell bent on getting there hooks into Cayman. The leaders who are pushing for them should be investigated by MI6, but what else would you expect from a anti democratic country .
I am sure the NSA, the FBI and the CIA are already looking into the connections.
kirkbots…..an attack on our democratic freedoms.
why doesn’t the compass report on this??
The Compass is pro businesses that believes they are above reporting anything unless it comes with a press release or at the behest of monied interests
They care about their advertising bottom line first and foremost
That is why despite running daily editorials they rarely mention their opinions on the cruise port issue according to the compass editorial board they are neither for or against the port project as it stands
Though I would argue silence in the face of the clear government attempts to mislead and misinform is equivalent to complicity
they represent the view of the business elites and are scared of pissing them off
They also want to pretend to be reporting in the best interests of the people so they can’t come out for the port either
They are just toeing the nonexistent line of journalistic “neutrality”
They spend most of their time writing the government narrative and fluff pieces anyway so
For anyone who doubts this comment simply look at the many articles and editorials relating to the upcoming “Kaaboo” festival
‘
Buy enough ad space in the compass and I’m sure they would probably let you write the articles themselves
Kaaboo is going to be a complete catastrophe.
The ridiculous prices Dart is charging only makes it worse.
It is a con job of the highest degree. Get a bunch of loony left, z-list performers to come here and assault our common sense with bad politics and piss poor “music”.
Can’t wait to see who bought “platinum” tickets. More money than sense.
Her name is Rio alright and she dances on the sand. What a joke!
Can hardly believe they would sink so low to destroy Cayman, but then again, as Maya Angelou once said ” when someone shows you who they are, believe them”.
Sad part is, if this dock turns out to be the disaster we expect and know it to be? These same fools will be voted back in by the sheeple and the muppets next election.
– Muppet “Head” Hunter
People accuse Singapore of being a a somewhat benevolent dictatorship, however, the Cayman Islands are beginning to look like a non-transparent dictatorship, particularly given that China Harbour is allegedly short listed. How will London and the FCO react to this?
Dictatorship, but with the double whammy of an incompetent corrupt government. At least Singapore has low crime and quality education…
Not alleged, the Gov confirmed that China Harbour is a tender finalist….
The world over mate!
Dear Government: Do what you were elected to do, build the dock.
Government are elected to uphold the democratic process. That would be a referendum and not pushing something through in secret.
Ignoramus, there NOTHING in the constitution that requires a referendum to be held to build capital projects.
True but there is nothing in the constitution that says we can’t have one to build capital projects.
Bot
Governments are elected solely to be the voice for the people and to take action in the best interest of the people of the said country or territory.
Instead, what we find is Governments world-wide use their political fortitude to personally gain from the country’s public purse, I.E. the peoples’ money!
We see greed and a lack of integrity globally. Why do we think the system is working?
Who is it working for?
I am tired of this debate. The PPM government was not elected. In fact they lost 2 seats in that election. The government we have is a coalition government and it cannot stand on what either party ran for in the election. There were key ways that they needed to compromise and the cruise berthing facility and cargo facility were not discussed.
Therefore they do not have a mandate. There’s no other way to see that.
do you remember the story of how we end with a coalition government?
To 3.27pm One thing that the National Unity Govt members had in common during the elections was support of Cruise Berthing. I am becoming more and more convinced that this lashing out against the Government is because we did not end up with the Goverment that these protesters wanted. But don’t blame Alden and Mac for that; blame Ezzard, Alva, and Arden who were unwilling to work with either of these two and couldn’t convince enough of the others to join them.In other words the majority of independent candidates preferred to be independent and stay on opposition rather than compromise and form the Government. So when they are out campaigning for this referendum just remind them that they put us in this mess.
Ok tender bots.
They also do it in the comments here (likely using organized efforts and multiple devices per person)
One day you see a comment with 40 up – 10 down
and you come back the next day to see it 80 down – 40 up
You can also see the bursts of pro port comments and votes in the evenings (after the pro port people get off of their respective government and Waterfront jobs)
They are trying to create the illusion of public support to help the government’s nonexistent “mandate”
Also just to be perfectly clear anyone with a credit card, or access to a credit card could have purchased these bots (it’s quite easy to do)
While it is possible (and likely) pro port persons bought the bots as they clearly have no qualms spending large amounts of cash for social media advertising to push their agenda
It is also entirely possible that anti-port persons bought the bots as well in order to elicit the response seen in regards to the bots
Social media polls have always been notoriously easy to manipulate
Cayman needs a reputable polling firm independent from special interests AND the government
Sadly we seem unable or unwilling to fill the void and it shows
The preferred bidder is trying to sway public opinion in their favour using the sheep mentality. Much like Russia did with ‘you know who.’
Agent Orange, barf
Hilary?
How do we know the ballet won’t be rigged the same say they did these polls? How can we be sure the vote will be fair?
CNS: A referendum is conducted in the same way as a general election. You cannot compare it to an online poll.
Another comment proving Caymanians desperately need civics in the national curriculum
As one MLA is reported to have said “Keep em dumb, keep em under my thumb”
Why would anybody rig a ballet? That would be tu-tu silly!
I know, Caymanians need to pay attention and read. If you have a laptop, desk top, iPad, whatever kind of electronic device you have hooked up to the internet, read the world news, the Jamaica gleaner, BBC, skip over to other Caribbean islands, just read. Go to the library and borrow a book on the history of cayman , Jamaica, British, Canadian, whatever you can get your hands on. Read about the coral.
Thank God we still use paper ballots, may it remain that way forever.
Thumbs up is for CNS comment. Not the dumb OP.
I guess you fools don’t realise that paper ballots can be rigged. You all act is as if it’s a 100% secure system. Keep sipping your koolaid fellas.
” a surge of votes over a 24 hour period from what appeared to be ‘bots’ using false profile pages originating in South East Asia in favour of the project.”
Convenient that the “preferred bidder” is also originating in South East Asia.
It seems this bunch of yahoos who are fanatically pushing for the big expensive dock do not care about anything but personal gain. Loss of the underwater wonders will result in loss of vacationers and visitors that will never come back. Is this what our government wants?
This cobbled together government that we have here, sewn and hanging together by, you know who,do not really care about Cayman.
Along with bitcoin farms, bot farms are also extremely common over there. The correlation is coincidence.
The silver lining on this to build or not to build is that the trouble makers changing the votes against to votes for is only fooling themselves. Persons are lining up to sign the petition for a referendum and they cannot change those numbers. Whoever went to the trouble of hiring them to flip the numbers forgot to tell them that that won’t really work here in Cayman. The petition as well as the ballots used for a referendum are paper forms and not electronic. Just another attempt to copy what allegedly happened up north. Bobo you are wasting your time.