Portland Communications, founded by Keir Starmer’s communications chief, linked to so-called ‘black hat’ edits

A high-profile PR company founded by Keir Starmer’s communications chief has been accused of commissioning changes to Wikipedia pages to make them more favourable towards clients.

Portland Communications, founded by Tim Allan, has been linked to the so-called “black hat” edits, sometimes called “Wikilaundering”. Several changes were made to Wikipedia pages by a network of editors, allegedly controlled by a contractor working on Portland’s behalf.

Plan follows pressure on broadcaster to put more content on platform, but raises questions about licence fee

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The BBC could soon make programmes for YouTube, after being put under pressure to produce more content on the increasingly dominant digital platform.

The corporation would begin making some content released first on the platform under proposals that could be announced as soon as next week as it seeks to reach younger viewers, who are the heaviest users of YouTube.