How Westminster goes viral (without Elon Musk)

What this episode covers

For years, Westminster has been addicted to Twitter (now called X). Host Sascha O'Sullivan looks at how the site – and SW1's reliance on it – has changed since tech billionaire Elon Musk took over. Sascha talks to Charlie Peters, journalist at GB News, whose story about grooming gangs was amplified by Musk before going on to dominate Britain's news cycle for a fortnight. She compares how the same story was covered originally by freelance journalist Julie Bindel, who exposed the extent of the grooming gangs in 2007, in a world before social media was so prevalent.  Labour MP Emily Thornberry and chair of the foreign affairs select committee reflects on going viral for the wrong reasons and subsequently resigning in 2014. She explains how politicians' use of social media has changed since then, subject to algorithms that favour right-wing content.  And Sascha takes a deep dive into how Nigel Farage has harnessed the power of going viral for decades – all the way back to his days as an MEP. She speaks to his former comms chief Gawain Towler and social media journalist Sophia Smith Galer – and asks whether the left needs to raise its game when it comes to mastering social media.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PodParley-generated summary based on available episode metadata and transcript content.