Rishi Sunak urged to intervene in ‘boycott’ of media outlets by advertisers over ‘political views’ as Tory MPs slam campaign group that ‘intimidates and bullies companies’

• Tory MPs including Liz Truss and Priti Patel urged Rishi Sunak to intervene 
• The backbenchers said the ‘boycott’ would have a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech

Almost 50 Tory MPs have written to Rishi Sunak urging him to intervene in an alleged advertising ‘boycott’ of media outlets over ‘political views’.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, senior Tory backbenchers, including ex-PM Liz Truss and former home secretary Dame Priti Patel, warned the action was having a ‘chilling effect’ on free speech.

They claimed that the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) ‘bullies companies into boycotting news outlets’.

The MPs wrote: ‘As more and more companies feel that they have no choice but to bend the knee to CAN activists, we will be left with a media that does not reflect the diversity of views of modern Britain. 

‘Worryingly, as part of its online advertising consultation, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently working alongside CAN and giving ‘consideration’ to its initiatives.

Almost 50 Tory MPs have written to Rishi Sunak (pictured) urging him to intervene in an alleged advertising ‘boycott’ of media outlets over ‘political views’

Tory backbenchers including Liz Truss and Priti Patel warned the alleged boycott could have a chilling effect on free speech

‘We urge the Government to ensure that its politically motivated activists are kept well away from Government policy.’

In a statement, CAN said it was a ‘non-partisan, non-political network’ which calls for advertisers to ‘break the economic link between advertising and harmful content’. 

The 46 MPs also said some advertising agencies had taken the ‘unprecedented step of creating for themselves an ‘opt out’ from certain Ofcom-regulated TV channels’. 

In the letter to Mr Sunak, they said: ‘This ‘opt out’ – effectively a boycott – has been implemented without public scrutiny.’

CAN said in a statement: ‘The proposal for state intervention in the advertising industry called for in this letter is anti-freedom and anti-choice.

‘Do the MPs not support advertisers’ freedom to choose where they advertise, and ordinary Britons’ right to freedom from harm?’

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