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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Robert Booth and Michael Goodier

Tech companies’ access to UK ministers dwarfs that of child safety groups

One person wearing a Keir Starmer mask and another wearing a Mark Zuckerberg mask hold hands walking along a pavement with Zuckerberg holding fake sacks of money
Campaigners from the Stop Trump Coalition pose during a protest to demand higher taxation of big tech companies outside Meta’s offices in London. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Tech companies have been meeting government ministers at a rate of more than once per working day, enjoying high-level political access that dwarfs that of child safety and copyright campaigners, who called the pattern “shocking” and “disturbing”.

Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Elon Musk’s X, whose Grok AI image generator has sparked outrage with its sexualised images of women and children, were among the US tech companies holding hundreds of meetings with people at the heart of government, a Guardian investigation has found.

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