\u2018Fake’ accounts claiming to be Amazon workers have been praising their working conditions on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Votes are currently being counted in Alabama to decide whether Amazon warehouse workers will form a union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But last night, a series of anti-union tweets were sent from accounts claiming to be staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twitter has now suspended many of the accounts, and Amazon has confirmed at least one is fake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the accounts were made just a few days ago, often with only a few tweets, all related to Amazon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat bothers me most about unions is there\u2019s no ability to opt out of dues,\u201d one user under the handle @AmazonFCDarla tweeted, despite a state law in Alabama which prevents this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmazon takes great care of me,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
Another account – which later changed its profile picture after it was revealed to be fake – said: \u201cUnions are good for some companies, but I don\u2019t want to have to shell out hundreds a month just for lawyers!\u201dAmazon FC
Many of the accounts involved used the handle @AmazonFC followed by a first name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon has previously used this handle for its so-called Amazon Ambassadors – real employees who are paid by the firm to promote and defend it on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon deploys Twitter ‘defence force’
‘Fake’ Amazon ambassadors baited online
An Amazon spokesperson told the BBC that Darla was not an official Ambassador, but has not responded to the BBC\u2019s request for clarification on several other accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt appears that this is a fake account that violates Twitter\u2019s terms,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cWe\u2019ve asked Twitter to investigate and take appropriate action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fake accounts
Several of the high-profile accounts have been suspended by Twitter. It told the BBC that Amazon Ambassadors are subject to Twitter’s rules on spam and platform manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accounts which impersonate or falsely claim to be affiliated with a company, can be temporarily suspended or removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any parody account should have a disclaimer in its Twitter bio, the company added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is unclear whether the accounts are real employees, bots or trolls pretending to be Amazon Ambassadors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amazon hits back
Amazon\u2019s executives and its official accounts have been tweeting in defence of the company in recent days, after negative reports of poor working conditions, including staff having to urinate in bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
The official Amazon News account tweeted: \u201cYou don\u2019t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
View original tweet on Twitter
In response to a tweet by US Democrat senator Elizabeth Warren, which accused Amazon of \u201cexploiting loopholes and tax havens\u201d, the account said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou make the tax laws, we just follow them. If you don\u2019t like the laws you\u2019ve created, by all means change them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHere are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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