Labour Deputy Leader Lucy “oh, we want to blow that little trumpet now, do we” Powell has proposed the state takes control of social media algorithms. This is one of the people running Burnham’s journey to No10…
Powell said in comments over the weekend:
“It’s not just a young person’s problem. The echo chambers, the rabbit holes that people can go down and you get that on the doorstep, suddenly there can be something that comes up on the doorstep quite a lot and you’re like, where the hell’s that come from? It’s not in the mainstream media at all. And it’s gone absolutely viral on social media….
We need to do more to regulate the algorithms and what drives contention and controversy and the business models of big, big tech as well. And we need to look at where politics and how politics is funded from abroad and from wealthy individuals and things like that and the power that that can bring you in the kind of social media age.”
The Burnham organiser claimed Reform uses “exploitation of online algorithms on social media sites” as well as “bots and troll farms to amplify support.” Unhappy about your low viewer counts, Lucy?
The Online Safety Act currently puts legal duties on platforms to manage to manage illegal content, which includes through algorithms. If enacted, Powell’s proposals could revive a push to force controls on “legal but harmful” content which includes “viral misinformation” according to the Deputy Leader. In practice the government could force “brakes” on social media algorithms for topics or during certain periods in order to suppress sharing of information. If you thought Keir Starmer was bad on social media controls…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”