The British government plans to introduce a new criminal offence targeting individuals who promote or advertise illegal immigration routes online. Under the proposed law, people creating or sharing online content that promotes illegal entry into the UK could face up to five years in prison, along with substantial fines.
Assisting unlawful immigration is already a crime, but officials argue that this new offence would provide law enforcement agencies with greater power to dismantle criminal networks.
“We will be working, as we have done for many months now, with authorities in other countries, to hold these people to account, to close down these criminal gangs, to stop this business model,” minister of state in charge of policing Diana Johnson said.
The announcement comes as the number of small boat arrivals continues to climb. Government figures released last week revealed that more than 25,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in 2025 so far.
According to the Home Office, around 80% of small boat migrants told officials they had used social media to arrange their journey, often in contact with smuggling agents. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has already taken down more than 8,000 posts promoting organized immigration crime in 2024 alone.
