January 13, 2026
Bagpipes, bots, blackout
Network of Scottish X accounts go dark amid Iran blackout
Fake ‘Scottish’ X fans vanish; commenters cry bots and drop receipts
TLDR: A cluster of pro‑independence ‘Scottish’ X accounts linked to Iran went silent when Iran’s internet cut out. Commenters split between laughing at the wild tank-in-Edinburgh claims and worrying about sock‑puppet manipulation, calling for usage‑drop analysis to expose bot networks.
When a clan of ‘Scottish independence’ personas on X (formerly Twitter) — the infamous Fiona, Jake, Lucy, Kelly — suddenly went silent right as Iran’s internet went dark, the comment sections erupted. The UK Defence Journal had tracked them for months, and the pattern was déjà vu: they also disappeared during a 2025 Iran blackout. Before vanishing, the accounts pumped out wild claims — tanks in Edinburgh, Balmoral seized, a BBC anchor detained — prompting users to ask if these “proud Scots” were really just VPN‑masked sock puppets. Studies cited in the thread added fuel: Cyabra said 26% of profiles pushing Scottish independence were fake, and Clemson researchers tied 80 bot accounts to an Iranian‑backed network. The crowd went full popcorn mode. OtherShrezzing mocked the cinematic posts, while LadyCailin dropped an archive link like receipts. kace91 pitched a nerdy-but-practical hot take: “measure usage drops” to catch bot swarms when their mothership goes offline. 6LLvveMx2koXfwn swung in with the cheeky “no true Scotsman” gag, and noelwelsh asked the uncomfortable question: how many sock puppet accounts are here too? The drama split the room: half laughing at “Fiona’s” imaginary tanks, half worried the internet’s being gamed daily. Meme-makers went to town with “bagpipes vs bots,” while skeptics demanded platform transparency and better bot-spotting tools.
Key Points
- •A cluster of fake X accounts linked to Iran that promoted Scottish independence went silent after Iran’s internet blackout beginning Thursday.
- •UK Defence Journal reported multiple high-follower accounts—including ‘Fiona’, ‘Jake’, ‘Lucy’, and ‘Kelly’—ceased activity and had shared extreme claims prior to going dark.
- •X location data placed one account in Europe, likely due to VPN use masking the true origin.
- •A similar blackout-linked inactivity occurred in June 2025 when Iranian internet collapsed amid Israeli and US strikes.
- •Analyses by Cyabra and Clemson University found significant Iranian-linked bot activity: 26% fake profiles and 4% of content tied to an ~80-account bot network.