Government YouTube drive to fight ‘conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors’ | Politics News

The UK government will build a central YouTube content channel featuring influencers and everyday people in a bid to better communicate its policies to the public.

It is part of wider efforts to modernise how the government is reaching voters and combat inflammatory far-right content spreading online.

Ministers have seen research which shows communications from government department social media channels are only reaching 2% of the public.

At the same time, far-right political content regularly ends up in the list of top five news stories that reach users each week on the “big 5” platforms – YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.

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The research has concerned Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, who was tasked with modernising how Whitehall operates when he was appointed to the new role in September.

The cabinet minister wants to ensure the government is showing up where people are increasingly getting their news so they aren’t left to “conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors”, a source close to him told Sky News.

YouTube has been identified as being particularly important, following a study in February which showed TV is now the most popular device to watch YouTube on across all age groups.

The source added: “Government is out of date in so many ways. The system needs a shake to get in better tech across the public sector and get rid of pointless paper forms and bureaucracy.

“But it also means modernising the way the government communicates with the public. We can’t abandon the internet to the clutches of conspiracy theorists and keyboard warriors.”

Some departments already have their own YouTube channels.

However over the course of the next year, the government intends to funnel more video content through a central UK government YouTube channel to maximise audience building, rather than having a huge array of different individual channels run by departments and arms-length bodies, without much reach.

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Video content on this central channel is expected to feature influencers and everyday people with real voices rather than government ministers.

The videos will promote new government services on offer, such as apprenticeships and digital ID, rather than political messaging, which is the role of Labour Party communications.

Creative decisions will rest with the New Media Unit (NMU), which is headed by Sir Keir Starmer’s director of digital communications, Caitlin Roper.

The NMU was set up after Labour took office and is being expanded in order to produce more content in house, with a bigger budget and headcount, Sky News has learnt.

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Recent work includes placing ads about the NHS on Spotify playlists used by the target audience, and a Cost of Living campaign using paid creator content which is said to have reached an audience of 1.3 million.

However Labour MPs remain concerned that the government is failing to communicate what it has achieved and what it stands for. Few are in denial that May’s local elections could be a “bloodbath” with Sir Keir Starmer’s personal unpopularity remaining a big barrier.

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The prime minister set up a TikTok account last year and has recently launched a “With Keir” series answering questions put to him on social media from the public, in a bid to boost his image.

These were done by Number 10’s digital team whereas the NMU sits in the Cabinet Office.

These reforms are part of efforts by Mr Jones to bring the Cabinet Office and Number 10 closer together.

The NMU’s aim is to take a more centralised approach to overall government communications for more cohesive story telling, amid concern dozens of different departments are doing different things under their own branding.

Mr Jones works closely with David Dinsmore, the former editor of The Sun who was controversially brought in as a senior civil servant to develop a new government communications strategy last year.

A government spokesperson said: “Today’s media landscape is unrecognisable compared to even a decade ago. Government Communications must change with that to ensure people get reliable information on the platforms they use.”