Labour Digital Rights Network

931 posts

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Labour Digital Rights Network

Labour Digital Rights Network

@LabDRN

Championing digital rights, privacy & liberty within the Labour movement. Resisting the authoritarian playbook to build a progressive digital future. 🌹👁️

Katılım Ocak 2026
350 Takip Edilen811 Takipçiler
Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
The year is 2026, and yet getting a consistent signal even in central London feels like winning the lottery. How can we build a world-leading digital economy when we're all stuck on loading screens?
The Telegraph@Telegraph

Phone signal in Britain is now so bad, download speeds are slower than in Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Romania. 96pc of the country covered by 4G, so why is it so hard to connect? ⤵️ telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer…

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Big Brother Watch
Big Brother Watch@BigBrotherWatch·
🆔Back in 2005 @andyburnham was Tony Blair’s ID card minister. Now, he's proposing digital ID checks to access social media… Burnham is presumed to be Britain's new Prime Minister. Tell him to stop plans to introduce IDs for the internet using our speedy tool⤵️ #emailAndy" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/save…
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SPEAK UK
SPEAK UK@speakukorg·
A ban on VPNs would be crazy. VPNs are used by journalists, political activists, and ordinary people who just want basic privacy online. If the government’s under-16 social media ban requires attacking VPNs, that is a very strong reason to drop the policy.
David Davis MP@DavidDavisMP

There is growing speculation about the enforcement of Labour's social media ban for Under-16s involving restrictions or bans on VPNs. Make no mistake, if this is introduced, it will mean an end to online privacy, and the state will know exactly who is looking at what at all times if they so choose. The only other states with restrictions on VPNs are China, Russia, Iran, Oman, the UAE, Turkey and India. This is a dark direction of policy even for the Labour Party. birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-…

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Big Brother Watch
Big Brother Watch@BigBrotherWatch·
🆔No digital ID 👁️No facial recognition 📵No censorship With the leadership race kicking off tomorrow, now is the chance for the Government to change course in defence of civil liberties. Find out how you can speak truth to power⤵️ bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/subscribe/
GIF
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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
If you want to understand the growing dangers of AI in politics, look no further than the bizarre decision by a Labour MP to invent a fake, AI-generated constituent. MPs' casework inboxes are overflowing with real people facing genuine hardship every single day. We do not need politicians replacing real citizens and their very real struggles with fake AI avatars. Elected representatives should be focused on defending democratic truth, not using tech to mislead voters.
Full Fact@FullFact

Last month a post on Sureena Brackenridge MP’s social media accounts told the story of a nurse called Maya, and her struggle to find affordable housing. But Maya doesn’t really exist, and an image accompanying the posts appears to be made with AI. (1/2) fullfact.org/politics/suree…

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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
There are legitimate concerns around foreign interference and opaque algorithms pushing false information during elections. But the solution cannot be a state-backed censorship regime that determines what content is and isn't true. @LucyMPowell's plan to impose broadcaster-style rules on social media hands the government dangerous power over our political speech. We need algorithmic transparency to protect our democracy, not an official arbiter of truth.
Lucy Powell MP@LucyMPowell

The Elections Bill does great things like votes at 16 & tackling foreign donations. It’s also a chance to protect democracy in the digital age. Online platforms play a central role in how people access news, they must accept responsibilities that reflect that influence.

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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
🚨 This is a dangerous power grab that threatens the very foundation of our digital democracy. Let’s be absolutely clear: while we must absolutely combat bot farms, foreign interference and deepfakes, handing the state and tech monopolies the statutory power to dictate what counts as "accurate" or "balanced" political speech is a terrifying prospect. Just days after the Culture Secretary and her department completely abandoned @X, our Deputy Leader is now trying to impose state-backed censorship on the digital public square right when democratic scrutiny matters most. We cannot allow the government to become the ultimate arbiter of truth online. The progressive solution to election interference is demanding algorithmic transparency and dismantling Big Tech's toxic, engagement-driven business models - not policing the legitimate political expression of millions of voters. We must protect free speech and the right to fiercely debate our political future.
Lucy Powell MP@LucyMPowell

Protecting free and fair elections is above party politics. We all have a stake in ensuring that elections are decided by informed voters—not by bots, manipulated algorithms or foreign interference. How I want to strengthen the Elections Bill 👇🏻 mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
This is no longer just a failing child safety policy; it is a full-frontal assault on the open internet and online anonymity. By threatening to restrict VPNs, this is an attempt to age-gate the fundamental infrastructure of the web. It would force millions of adults to hand over their IDs and biometric data just to use tools that keep their browsing private and secure. A progressive government should protect our digital rights, not build a surveillance state that mimics authoritarian regimes.
The Mercian@TheMercianNews

🚨 BREAKING: Andy Burnham has confirmed that he will introduce restrictions on VPNs under his leadership. Tech Secretary Liz Kendall has said that "Andy is committed to keeping kids safe online, and has been vocal in his support of age restrictions for kids using social media." VPNs are fully illegal in Belarus, Iraq, North Korea, and Turkmenistan. They are only restricted in China, Russia, Iran, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UAE.

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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
We told you so. Public support for an under-16s social media ban plummets as soon as people realise how it will actually be enforced. It is easy to support a ban in theory, until the reality becomes clear. The only way to effectively block under-16s is to identify every single user on the internet. To enforce this, the government will force millions of us to upload our passports, driving licences, or credit card details to tech monopolies, effectively creating a mandatory digital ID system by the backdoor. When faced with this reality - and the enormous cybersecurity risks of handing over sensitive personal data to the very companies we are trying to regulate - support for the ban drops to just 50%.
The Telegraph@Telegraph

Two-thirds of the public (69 per cent) say they are in favour of a law requiring social media companies to use age-verification tools to ban children under the age of 16 from social media, according to a poll by Ipsos. However, support for the Australian-style social media ban falls to just half of the public if it means everyone in the UK is required to upload either an ID or credit card to the tech firms to verify their age ⤵️ telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/0…

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Big Brother Watch
Big Brother Watch@BigBrotherWatch·
🆔Former ID cards minister @andyburnham backs Starmer's plans to introduce digital ID checks for social media This will not keep children safe but it will be a Trojan horse for more surveillance & censorship - it should be binned immediately. Read⤵️ mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
🚨 The government’s new media consultation is a blatant attempt to seize control of social media algorithms and enforce a "state-approved" news feed. Under the guise of promoting "trustworthy news", @DCMS is exploring legislative options to force platforms like YouTube to give priority ranking to mainstream broadcasters. By artificially boosting approved media, the government will effectively downrank independent creators and investigators, regardless of what audiences actually want to see. YouTube itself has already warned creators that these proposals will force them to put certain channels above others, severely limiting the growth of independent voices. The hypocrisy is staggering. Just days after @lisanandy proudly announced she was abandoning @X because it "favours abuse and misinformation", her department is now trying to artificially engineer a sanitised internet elsewhere. We cannot afford to let the state become the sole arbiter of truth online. Yes, we are highly critical of Big Tech's toxic algorithms that monopolise our attention and harvest our data to generate profit. But the solution to surveillance capitalism is robust regulation, algorithmic transparency, and data protection - not a state-dictated media feed. Read more about the consultation here ⤵️ gov.uk/government/con…
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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
Deeply disappointed that @andyburnham plans to press ahead with Keir Starmer's unworkable under-16s social media ban. He calls it a "critical first step", but ignoring the evidence that prohibition has fundamentally failed in Australia makes this a dangerous misstep. This is not the reset on digital policy we hoped a change in leadership would bring.
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Preston Byrne
Preston Byrne@prestonjbyrne·
The Australian eSafety Commissioner wants the power to punish social media platforms for allowing ratios. These “Online Safety” regimes start out as “well it’s for protecting kids” and then quickly evolve into regimes to protect politicians.
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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
🚨 @DCMS’s decision to leave X highlights exactly what is wrong with the government’s digital strategy: vacating the digital public square is not a progressive solution. If we abandon the spaces where millions of people engage in daily political debate, we simply surrender them to opposing views. Progressive politics requires us to be confident enough in our values to argue for them, even in supposedly hostile environments. @lisanandy is right that some platforms amplify abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate. But the solution to surveillance capitalism and toxic algorithms is robust regulation, not retreat. Instead of logging off or banning users, the government must stay and fight. Hold tech executives accountable for the business models that profit from outrage, and protect the digital public square for everyone.
Lisa Nandy MP@lisanandy

I've decided to leave this platform and my Department will too. A platform originally designed for free speech and expression now favours abuse and misinformation over meaningful debate. It isn't healthy for our democracy or our communities and I don’t want to support it.

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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
For too long, our vital public infrastructure and highly sensitive health data have been handed over to unaccountable surveillance giants. We hope this marks the beginning of a true digital sovereignty agenda for Labour - one that returns power to the people and builds privacy-first technology for the common good.
Dominic Penna@DominicPenna

*EXCLUSIVE* Andy Burnham is set to ditch Palantir from the NHS, @Telegraph can reveal The prime minister in waiting did not grant the US tech giant any contracts in Greater Manchester and is minded to take the same approach in No 10 telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/…

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Reclaim The Net
Reclaim The Net@ReclaimTheNetHQ·
Australia's teen social media ban is a total failure. 85% of 12-15 year olds still online after 3 months. Kids beat it with drawn mustaches and borrowed accounts. Guess the govt's genius fix? Double the fines and expand face-scanning surveillance. They're not protecting kids. They're building a biometric police state. And the rest of the world is, unfortunately, taking notes. reclaimthenet.org/australias-tee…
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Labour Digital Rights Network
Labour Digital Rights Network@LabDRN·
Spot on from @ChiOnwurah. A blanket social media ban fundamentally fails to address the root of genuine online harms. While teens are shut out of the digital public square, Big Tech's predatory algorithms continue to harvest our data and fuel surveillance capitalism. Read more ⤵️
PoliticsHome@politicshome

The social media ban for under-16s is a sticking plaster, not a solution to online harms ✍️ @ChiOnwurah politicshome.com/news/article/s…

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Keşfet

@andyburnham @LucyMPowell @X @DCMS @lisanandy @ChiOnwurah @elonmusk @BarackObama