‘The BBC sees right-wing views as the will of the people – it’s terrified of looking out of touch’
Has UK news media, including the BBC, been led astray by taking its lead from social media conversations, and the billionaire backing that goes into platforming and amplifying far-right disinformation?
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In brief…
- The News Agents claim major media companies, such as the BBC, repeatedly platform right-wing views because of the engagement these talking-points receive on social media.
- This, Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall say, is because news outlets believe this is the “will of the people” and they are afraid of being considered “out of touch”.
- The danger comes, they add, because of the money behind social media algorithms boosting the reach of extremist views which suit the interests of the billionaires who own the platforms, and others.
What’s the story?
Nigel Farage, a politician leading a party with a grand total of five MPs in the House of Commons, has appeared on flagship BBC politics discussion show Question Time 38 times during his career.
He is one of the most frequent guests, ever, on the late-night panel show.
Farage is not, however, the most extremist guest to appear on Question Time – with former British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin guesting in 2009. This came shortly after the BNP won two seats in the 2009 European Parliament election, suggesting a rise in popularity for the extreme far-right political party.
Other guests on the episode, Lewis Goodall says, treated Griffin as if he was "radioactive".
But now, with more than 100,000 people showing up in London to march alongside Tommy Robinson at his 'Unite the Kingdom' protest on 13 September, Lewis says it is a distinct possibility that Robinson, a convicted criminal once considered "beyond the pale" by most media outlets, could also be invited to share his views on a primetime, mainstream TV show.
"I don't think it would be beyond the realms of possibility – even though he's got no elective or electoral base whatsoever," says Lewis Goodall.
"I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon, but I can imagine that's a conversation within the BBC that could be had which would have been unimaginable, possibly even six months ago."
How social media has changed everything in news media
Lewis says the days of major platforms such as the BBC being a "traditional gatekeeper" to far-right groups, stemming extremist views by not giving them a platform, are long gone.
This is, of course, due to the rise and dominance of social media in how we consume our news content.
"It was easier to exclude those groups in the past because they didn't have access to their own information system," Lewis says.
"Now they have X, which is probably the most influential news site in the world as a means of distributing information."
And this information, he adds is "not just right wing or hard-right, but really far-right" – as anyone who uses X in 2025 would probably have seen firsthand.
News organisations, he adds, take the lead for their daily news programming from social media, X in particular, as it still represents the biggest conversation platform for national, and international, topics.
"Big news organisations now, including the BBC, are terrified, just like the Labour government, of looking out of touch," Lewis says.
"They are looking on X every day and seeing all the blue-tick accounts with all of their particular news priorities flash up and taking their cues from them."
Why the money behind X disinformation is a major concern
This much influence does not grow organically, however. It needs one special ingredient to help it bloom – money.
Twitter, once a relatively trusted source for breaking news, was bought by Elon Musk in 2022 for $44 billion, and quickly transformed into a place which permitted the most extreme of language and dangerous disinformation to flood the feed.
And neither the big media organisations, or the government, can see the connection between social media, and the billionaires fuelling – and profiting from – this shift to extremist content online.
"They do not understand the power of money," Emily says.
"They're failing to understand how much money is driving this influence. They are failing to understand that Tommy Robinson has reinvented himself for the social media age."
Whether it's been discussed inside the BBC or not, Tommy Robinson doesn't need a spot on the Question Time panel to spread his views – his social media presence inspired more than 100,000 to take to the streets of London and march by his side.
Emily adds while Robinson claims to be "penniless", there are claims he has received funds for legal fees from Elon Musk and Tristan Tate.
"We know that Musk hasn't confirmed these payments, but if you're in a place where you are being heavily funded by US billionaires, then it will quickly look as if you have more reach, more power, more voice, than you actually do," she says.
"As soon as that starts to happen, the mainstream caves and assumes it's where the people are.
"That is a big mistake. It is a school-boy error not to understand just what social media and its money is doing to discourse right now in this country, and thinking that this is just the will of the people."