TikTok Tactics: UK Hires Foreign Influencers to Combat Channel Migrant Surge

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK Home Office is planning to pay "thousands of pounds" to foreign TikTok bloggers to urge undocumented migrants not to cross the English Channel in boats and promote new immigration legislation, The Times newspaper reported, citing a government document.

The UK authorities believe that, as of now, the social platform is being used by smugglers to advertise their services for crossing the channel, the newspaper reported.

The home office intends to attract celebrities from Albania, Iraq, Egypt and Vietnam, Turkey and India, from where the largest flow of undocumented migrants to the United Kingdom is recorded.

Around 30,000 pounds ($37,620) are expected to be paid to Albanian celebrities, including rapper Omg Dioh, comedian Roxhi Dibrani, "lifestyle influencer" Fabio Daja and blogger from the United States Ben Washburn, with a cap of 5,000 pounds per person. Another 15,000 pounds will be paid to celebrities in Egypt and Vietnam, while the budget for the Turkish, Iraqi and Indian campaigns is yet to be determined.

The plan is designed to help London bypass the ban on the government use of TikTok introduced over security concerns, so the advertisements posted by foreign bloggers will not be labeled as government content, the report said.

Illegal migration has been a burning political issue for the UK for years and intensified after the country left the European Union in 2020. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping migrant boats attempting to cross the English Channel one of his priorities since taking office.