Reddit posts calling London "unsafe and violent" should be censored, Labour MP demands
"There is a campaign to undermine the standing of our capital city and frighten its residents," Dame Emily Thornberry claims
A Labour MP has called for Reddit posts that call London “unsafe and violent” to be censored.
Speaking today at the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, Dame Emily Thornberry suggested the negative posts were being uploaded as part of a “campaign to undermine the standing of our capital city.”
She estimated the number of Reddit posts calling London unsafe had skyrocketed from 400 a year to 400,000, admitting she "did not have the numbers right in front of me".
The Islington South and Finsbury also claimed the posts had been “used by Reform” in its campaigns - without offering further clarification - and asked the government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce to “do something please.”
Thornberry, who famously quit after posting a “snobby tweet” about a house flying England flags, also asked whether the government supported the establishment of a “National Disinformation Agency.”
First suggested by the think tank RUSI, Thornberry said such a body would “track, regulate and keep close to the public” on social media to “ensure that our democracies are not being undermined.”
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Thornberry said: "On Reddit a few years ago... the words 'London', 'unsafe' and 'violent' were used about 400 times in a year. And then last year it was 400,000 times.
"There is a campaign to try to undermine the standing of our capital city and to frighten its residents, and those words are being used by Reform, and the new mayoral candidate.
"There is something going on, and all I'm saying to those responsible for the Defending Democracy Task Force is: 'can you do something about this please?'"
Thornberry did not clarify how Reddit or the government should wipe out criticism of London.
She added: "How are you going to tackle Reddit and make sure that this doesn't happen because they're spreading lies and it gets under people's skin?
"I mean, even the President of the United States thinks that it's not safe to walk the streets of London... but the number of murders happening in London have never been lower than they are now, not since records began."
London recorded 97 murders in 2025, down from 109 in 2024 - the fewest since at least 2014 and the lowest rate since comparable records began in 1997.
When announcing the stats, Mayor Sadiq Khan said the positive figures flew in the face of claims that the capital had become a crime-ridden hellhole (our words, not his).
“There are some politicians and commentators who’ve been spamming our social media with an endless stream of distortions and untruths, painting an image of a dystopian London,” Khan told The Associated Press. “And nothing could be further from the truth.”
