Burnham blasted as ‘happy-clappy’ on TikTok while UK online safety fears grow
Baroness Kidron warned that Andy Burnham may be too dazzled by the power of social media platforms to tackle the 'scourge of Big Tech'
The new prime minister has been criticised for being too “happy-clappy” on TikTok to challenge the powers of big tech, as concerns about online safety in the UK are on the rise.
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Baroness Kidron, the crossbench peer and digital rights campaigner, warned that Andy Burnham may be too dazzled by the power of social media platforms to tackle the “scourge of Big Tech”.
Burnham, who has been active on social media since rising to power at Number 10, has otherwise been quiet on how governments should regulate tech firms to keep children safe from online safety risks.
Kidron described politicians as “a bit untrustworthy in relation to social media and tech”, adding that: “They see it as a weapon that can be used for, or against, their own interests and that’s a problem” while speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Read more: Wetherspoons bans Meta Glasses in pubs amid privacy concerns
Kidron admitted that she was taken aback by the new prime minister’s social media savvy, adding that even an anti-Labour family member had been won over by it.
She said it was unclear whether Burnham could, or would be willing, to tackle looming threats from Big Tech.
“My concern is that he doesn’t talk about tech very much and he uses it quite a lot,” Kidron said, adding that he was “Mr Happy-Clappy in his TikTok videos”.
“I was with my mother-in-law last week and within three weeks of Andy Burnham becoming prime minister he had made her friends on Facebook.
“I thought that was bloody impressive because she’s not a natural ally. She said she would never vote Labour again because of the winter fuel tax.
“So somehow, he is using the technology,” she said.
Kidron warned that Burnham would need the confidence to say “boo to the big tech boys” and legislate in the interests of tackling social media harms to children.
Kidron was speaking at the festival alongside Meta whistleblower and author of Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams.
The bestselling book details Wynn-Williams’ experience working at Meta between 2011-2017, and the trials and tribulations she faced at the tech giant which now operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The memoir chronicles how the company aided and abetted advertisers in targeting vulnerable young people. Meta previously insisted it does not and has not “offered tools to target people based on their emotional state”.
The author has been blocked from promoting the book, thanks to a US legal ruling, which has forced her to sit in silence on stage as the book is discussed around her.
