Labour Deputy Says Farage Is a Threat to Democracy and Calls for Misinformation Clampdown

Reform UK is destabilising British democracy by spreading divisive material that is being amplified by bots and troll farms, Labour’s deputy leader has said.

Lucy Powell called for tighter laws on social media giants to tackle misinformation, arguing the online space was “open to wealthy individuals, and bad state actors”.

She also highlighted the multimillion-pound donations that have bolstered Reform’s election war chest and “fund their powerful online campaigns”.

Arguing Nigel Farage and his party posed a threat to democracy, she said the law should be strengthened to “tackle the scourge of dis- and misinformation which is ripping communities apart and undermining us all”.

She said Reform’s “exploitation of online algorithms on social media sites is well documented”, as was the way the party had benefited from “bots and troll farms to amplify support”.

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Powell made her comments in an article for Babelfish, as well as an interview with the comedian Matt Forde. Her intervention comes as MPs are pushing for tighter regulation of misinformation in the forthcoming elections legislation, known as the representation of the people bill.

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Asked about the issue of false information online, Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, said the government was considering doing more to halt misinformation at times of public crisis such as riots or unrest.

She said she was “very concerned” about the role of social media platforms in times of unrest, adding: “I definitely think particularly during moments of crisis and disorder and when public safety is important, we need to look at what more we can do.”

Kendall pointed to a report last year from parliament’s science, innovation and technology committee, which called for Ofcom to implement “crisis response protocols” that would hold platforms responsible for misinformation. The media regulator has consulted on the issue, with more details expected to be announced this month.

However, Powell is calling for more decisive action, saying the lack of regulation online is a “fundamental threat to our democracy” and it was common to encounter viral misinformation repeated by voters on the doorstep.

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On Reform’s use of social media, Powell wrote in a separate article that Farage was “importing all the worst populist tactics which have undermined democracy elsewhere to Britain”.

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