Home Office TikTok account posting deportation footage accused of turning ‘brutality into clickbait’

A Home Office TikTok account posting footage of deportations and arrests set to dramatic music has been criticised for turning “brutality” into “clickbait”.An account called @SecureBordersUK was created on Tuesday with the slogan: “Restoring order and control to our borders.”The first 20-second video shows people handcuffed and escorted on to planes, and raids being carried out to arrest illegal workers.It ends with a message reading: “And it’s just getting started.”The head of asylum advocacy at Freedom From Torture, Sile Reynolds, said: “This government is clearly hooked on the cheap political points it can score by turning the brutality of enforcement raids into clickbait online entertainment.“This style of political communication provokes the kind of anxiety and fear that fuelled the summer riots and the recent violence directed at asylum hotels.”The new account, which was set up on Tuesday. Photograph: Home Office/TikTok/PAShe added that caring people in the UK were “increasingly alarmed” by the government’s “performative cruelty” towards migrants and called for ministers to focus on uniting the country and use its TikTok account to “tell a more hopeful story about our capacity to welcome those seeking sanctuary in the UK”.Imran Hussain, the director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: “Only a small proportion of refugees in Europe come to the UK.“Those that do come here do so because they have existing links with the UK – like having family here, speaking English, or longstanding cultural links.“TikTok videos will not change this.”The Home Office has said the account is aimed at tackling online misinformation and to deter people from making the dangerous crossing over the Channel.The Home Office has published figures showing a record level of arrests and visits in relation to illegal working since current records began in 2019.In 2025, 12,791 visits were carried out, up 57% from 8,122 in the previous year, to businesses such as nail bars, car washes, barbers and takeaway shops.Arrests were also at a record high of 8,971 last year, up nearly 59% compared with 5,647 in 2024 – the previous highest point in data published by the Home Office.Of those arrested, 1,087 people have been removed from the UK so far.Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, said: “There is no place for illegal working in our communities. That is why we have surged enforcement activity to the highest level in British history so illegal migrants in the black economy have nowhere to hide.”Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is yet another pathetic gimmick that won’t work. The idea that putting some posts on TikTok will stop illegal immigrants is laughable – just like the government’s previous gimmick to smash the gangs.”