TikTok and Facebook join forces with Britain’s FBI to crack down on people smugglers
TIKTOK and Facebook are joining forces with Britain’s top crimebusters to crack down on people smugglers who lure migrants online.
The social media giants and the National Crime Agency are working to find and shut down ads by criminals trying to lure people to cross the Channel in dinghies.
Gangs currently use glossy social media videos offering discounts, free spaces for kids and fake papers in a bid to flog spaces on boats.
But tech companies will try to redirect users away from the content, in the same way they tackle extremism.
The Government is also setting up a nerve centre, backed by £11million, to disrupt the criminals’ business model.
Tech whizzes will be asked to find ways like AI to thwart the criminals.
Instagram and X — formerly Twitter — have also signed up to the plans, Downing Street said.
PM Rishi Sunak said: “To stop the boats, we have to tackle the business model of vile people smugglers at source.
“This new commitment from tech firms will see us redouble efforts to fight back against these criminals.”
It starts a “small boats week” of linked announcements from ministers.
No10 said small boat crossings are down on last year and the “legacy” asylum backlog has been cut by a third since last December.
But Labour claim it will take until 2036 to clear it.
The RNLI brought 50 migrants ashore at Dover yesterday after they were rescued mid-Channel.