The Home Office has reportedly set aside around £570,000 to pay rappers, comedians and TV personalities on TikTok.
The Home Office is planning to pour taxpayer’s money into TikTok campaigns, according to The Times, by getting influencers to post videos that discourage people from illegally migrating to the UK.
This dystopian sponcon will be part of a £1 million advertising offensive to be introduced in the spring, which will accompany the controversial plan to send asylum seekers – many of whom are fleeing war and poverty – to Rwanda.
The Times reports that the TikTok campaign will communicate the hostile environment that awaits any migrants to the UK via the chirpy and relatable posts of online opinion-formers. The content won’t be UK government-branded but, as the article states, “they will need to confirm their affiliation to the Home Office in the interests of transparency”.
The focus will be on countries that account for a significant proportion of illegal migration to the UK, including Albania, Iraq, Egypt, and Vietnam, with future plans to do the same in Turkey and India. To pay the influencers, the Home Office has reportedly set aside an eye-watering budget of £570,000.
read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvja4v/uk-government-pay-tiktok-influencers-tell-migrants-not-come