Rishi Sunak steps up war against ‘heartless’ small boats people smugglers with new push against their business

Social media companies like Tik Tok are to join forces with the National Crime Agency to crack down on “heartless” adverts luring people into deadly small boat crossings with promises of group discounts and free places for children.

But the drive to hurt the business model of vile people smugglers is voluntary. A similar push three years ago saw just over 4,700 posts, pages or accounts removed or suspended.

Rishi Sunak said that the new commitment from tech firms including Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter, would “redouble” government efforts to “fight back against these criminals”.

He said that in order to meet his flagship pledge to stop the boats: “We have to tackle the business model of vile people smugglers at source.

“That means clamping down on their attempts to lure people into making these illegal crossings and profit from putting lives at risk.”

Home secretary Suella Braverman warned “heartless” people smugglers “must not succeed”, saying the "strengthened collaboration” would ensure the vile content “doesn't see the light of day”.

The crackdown comes at the start of a week in which ministers are expected to highlight small boats, an area where senior government insiders believe they have an advantage over Labour.

No 10 also said that the “legacy” backlog of large numbers of asylum applications made before the end of June 2022 has been reduced by a third since December.

The new drive will target posts advertising, among other things, safe crossings and offers of false documents, Downing Street said.

Social media giants will also use tactics learnt from tackling extremist content to redirect people away to safer topics.

As well as the agreement with tech firms a new centre, backed by £11m in funding, will be established at the NCA so officers can work with the Home Office to report promotional posts. Ministers will also organise a “hackathon” to try to use the power of AI to crack down on the deadly adverts.

But the new system is a voluntary arrangement with the companies, which own some of the biggest social media networks in the world.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said the announcement was “tinkering around the edges when much larger reforms are needed”.

“The public has lost all faith in this government when it comes to the asylum system, and this latest announcement will do little to change that,” he said.