Lucy Powell brands Elon Musk's X 'toxic' as she says social media rules around elections must be tightened
The deputy Labour leader told LBC's Lewis Goodall that the government "absolutely need[s] to strengthen regulation" of social media
Lucy Powell has branded Elon Musk's X a 'toxic and difficult environment' as she says social media rules around elections need to be tightened.
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Talking to LBC's Sunday with Lewis Goodall, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party called for more restrictions on social media usage around the date of elections, calling for rules to be aligned with current broadcasting restrictions.
"We absolutely need to strengthen regulation in the social media place," she told LBC, adding that she already has some proposals to put forward, "especially when it’s election time,” as part of a current bill being looked at in Parliament.
"We’ve got an elections bill going through the House of Commons at the moment; to strengthen that bill, so that social media comes under the same requirements during an election period that our broadcasters do."
She added that social media rules were increasingly important as "it is where most people get their news and information and are influenced from".
Currently during purdah, also known as the pre-election period, UK government, local authorities, and broadcasters are under strict restrictions on media, publicity, and communications in order to ensure impartiality and a level playing field for candidates.
Under the Ofcom code, ahead of an election media outlets must give political parties and independent candidates due weight across TV and radio coverage - meaning they must receive an appropriate level of coverage based on their past and current electoral support.
The Broadcasting Code also introduces significant polling day restrictions - preventing outlets from reporting details of campaigning or election issues, and halting the publication of any opinion polls until after the polls close.
The comments followed culture secretary Lisa Nandy's decision to leave Elon Musk's X after claiming its become a far-right misinformation network that "isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities".
Ms Powell supported Ms Nandy's right to leave the platform, calling it a "toxic and difficult environment", but called it was a "trade-off" and said it was a decision for each department and politician to make for themselves.