London, 15 February 2024 – The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) is extremely concerned about hearing reports that the Home Office is intending to pay TikTok influencers to urge migrants not to cross the channel. 

In a statement, Mike Salem, the UK Country Associate at the CCC stated that this is a “grotesque waste of taxpayers’ money.” Salem further highlighted the contradictory nature of this campaign in using TikTok, an application that is now banned from UK Parliamentary devices over cybersecurity risks, to deter migrants from crossing the channel. He added: “There is no way to quantify and measure the effectiveness of these influencers and their videos.”

In his concluding remarks, Salem noted “I am surprised they are encouraging influencers to increase content on a platform they deem dangerous, and more dangerously to discuss British political affairs. The fact that the Home Office is paying influencers instead as a means to evade the ban on government use of TikTok says it all.”

The CCC has continuously warned of TikTok and its dangers to vulnerable users. The CCC believes in freedom of choice, but also in freedom from surveillance, especially from a regime that conducts mass espionage on its citizens globally and regularly commits human rights violations. It is abhorrent that the UK government is promoting individuals to post on that social media outlet, and we call on the government to withdraw these plans and review their decision-making process in allowing this policy to go this far.