LinkedIn Founder Bankrolls Labour’s TikTok Attack on Reform

Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s founder, is one of several wealthy Silicon Valley figures backing Labour’s campaign to take on Reform on TikTok. The Telegraph has the story.

Labour has appointed FourOneOne, a digital marketing agency founded by the team behind the party’s 2024 General Election campaign, to help provide access to influencers and social media training to MPs.

Filings show that FourOneOne’s minority shareholder is Estratos Digital, a Vienna-based digital agency founded by two Hungarian former Socialist politicians.

Estratos is, in turn, backed by Higher Ground Labs, a US venture capital fund with ties to the Democrats that has invested millions in technology companies that support Left-wing political campaigns.

In addition to Mr Hoffman, Higher Ground Labs has received funding from Ron Conway, an early investor in Google and PayPal, and Chris Sacca, who has invested in Twitter, Uber and Instagram.

FourOneOne’s work for the Labour Party includes arranging access for influencers to press briefings and events, including the party conference, in exchange for social media posts.

It also provides social media coaching to more than a dozen Labour MPs and hosts training sessions for the wider party.

But the company, run by former music teacher and Labour councillor Nik Rutherford, has come under scrutiny following reports that it has offered cash to influencers in exchange for social media posts.

Investigative website Declassified UK reported that FourOneOne offered to pay journalist Amun Bains £50 a week to post at least five “progressive” videos online, with the possibility of further bonuses. This included material that attacked Reform and promoted Labour’s political objectives. …

Labour’s links to FourOneOne, which counts former Israeli intelligence officer and Labour staffer Assaf Kaplan as a director, come amid a broader digital push by Sir Keir Starmer, who has recently set up accounts on both TikTok and newsletter platform Substack.

The Government has begun holding events for influencers. At the same time, No 10 said this week it is scrapping its daily afternoon briefings with political journalists and will hold regular press conferences open to “content creators”.

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