David Lammy condemns wealthy men getting rich from 'conflict, hate and toxicity' on social media

David Lammy has condemned the “billionaires” and “wealthy men making a lot of money and monetising division, conflict, hate and toxicity” from social media.

The Deputy Prime minister, 53, was speaking after appearing on a panel as part of LADbible’s live conversation series, Happening Now, held in north-east London on Tuesday.

A UK-wide LADbible survey done ahead of the event, which sampled 1500 men and 500 women aged between 18-34, suggested that young men primarily see their lives through an economic lens rather than a cultural one. Findings also showed that 86% of the young men surveyed believe it is harder than ever to get ahead, but that 84% believe hard work still leads to opportunities.

The panel, which also featured influencer Jim Chapman, suicide prevention advocate Ben West and Movember director Sarah Sternberg, discussed the findings and issues affecting men and boys, including freedom of opportunity, economic pressures and loneliness.

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Lammy, who is also the Justice Secretary, told LADbible: “I feel very strongly that when we're talking about social media, in the end there are a lot of billionaires, wealthy men making a lot of money and monetising division, conflict, hate and toxicity.

"I feel very strongly looking at this trend over the last 15 years and where we find ourselves now as a society, that sadly there are a generation of young men that, it's never too late, but they've experienced it. And I'm not suggesting that all social media is harmful. Of course it's not.

“But I am saying that where it is harmful, we have not been able to act successfully. Now this is currently before Government and we are talking obviously about what we can do, particularly for those under 16. And I'm very confident that colleagues in Government will be coming forward with our proposals very soon.

“We've been out to consultation. Over 100,000 people have got involved, but nine out of 10 parents want support in this area.

“They know, they are worried, they are anxious. And we're now sitting here having this conversation in 2026, when I think that we've been conscious of this problem for many, many years, I just think is a failure as a society.

“And it's not just as our society, it's really a failure across the Western developed world. (I’m) Very, very worried about it indeed.”

Earlier in the week Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer threatened to change the law if tech firms fail to introduce device-level controls which would stop children sending or receiving nude images.

Recent reports have also claimed Sir Keir could be set to announce a ban on social media for under-16s in coming days following a nationwide consultation.

Lammy, who has three children with his wife Nicola Green - two sons and a daughter - has been the MP for Tottenham since 2000 and trained as a barrister before entering politics.

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Speaking about parenting in the age of social media, he told LADbible: “It is the social media at night that keeps you up, in part because you know that in those dark recesses of social media, you aren't there as the parent alongside your child in the depths of anxiety or loneliness or toxicity. You're not alongside them or there isn't another adult or trusted friend or adult alongside them as there might be in the offline space at school or in a youth setting. “So that definitely keeps me up. And then because I'm not just Deputy Prime Minister, I'm also the Justice Secretary, I see that pipeline of young people to youth justice settings in the magistrates court, the youth court in our prisons.

“I see the problems for young people who really start off in a poorer socioeconomic context. Young people in the care system, young men in the care system. So there's so much to do and this is a really important big agenda.”

Lammy told LADbible that he wished “that this was a cross party agenda”.

He explained: “There are the politics of grievance playing out in this space, channeling a lot of angst, pain, grief, conflict, but not much solution. And this really ought to be so important that it's above politics. There's a common consensus, whether you're in the centre, the left or the right. We set a course as a country and we get around fixing the problems. It should not be something that is dependent on the election cycle.”

The panel was chaired by Leon Mann, who is the founder of the Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS).

Happening Now is a live audience-led conversation series from LADbible

Group, designed to bring the realities of young people’s lives directly into the room with influential voices from politics, culture, sport and entertainment.

Combining live debate, audience interaction and culturally relevant voices, Happening Now is designed to create honest conversation, challenge perspectives and encourage meaningful accountability from those in positions of influence and power.