Nandy: Disgrace that X ‘didn’t turn up’ to meeting on online abuse of RNLI staff

Rhiannon James, Helen Corbett and David Lynch Press Association Political Staff

Digital Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was an “absolute disgrace” that representatives from Elon Musk’s X failed to attend a meeting to address online abuse, including of RNLI workers.

The volunteers have been targeted for helping migrants at sea, with footage posted on social media showing them labelled as “traitors” after bringing a dinghy to safety in Portsmouth.

In a letter to RNLI staff and volunteers, Ms Nandy said she was “shocked and saddened” by the abuse they received during anti-migrant protests earlier this month.

She met with social media platforms including Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google, alongside Ofcom, on Tuesday, to reinforce that the Government expects them to protect users from harmful and dangerous online content.

However, Ms Nandy told Times Radio that X did not respond to the invitation and “didn’t even bother to turn up”.

Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Nandy said: “I have made a commitment to the RNLI and to, not just charities but public sector workers, police officers, and others who are being routinely harassed and abused online in the course of work, that we will tighten up the law.”

She added: “All of the different social media companies have completely different terms of service, different standards that they apply to online hatred directed at individuals.

“Some of them will automatically remove that content. Some of them, frankly, won’t.

“X didn’t even bother to turn up yesterday, which I think is an absolute disgrace.”

RNLI chief executive Peter Sparkes has said recent protests generated “deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI – our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel”.

The charity has issued security advice in the wake of the protests warning volunteers and staff not to wear the charity’s branding.

At the meeting, Ms Nandy told tech companies the Government is considering further action to discourage the practice of doxxing, when a person’s private information is shared online without their consent.

“We will make sure that where, for example, people’s addresses are being published online, that we just do not allow that to happen, that those things will have to be either blocked or taken down immediately,” she told Times Radio.

Ms Nandy also raised concerns about dangerous driving and stunt driving content which is circulating on social media.

The social media bosses were told to raise their standards and to be quicker and more proactive in dealing with harmful content.

Further legislation could be brought forward to deal with harmful online content if the tech companies do not make progress, Ms Nandy warned.

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