You might have seen videos on social media claiming the UK government is about to start charging every household £25–£27 a month for WiFi. The supposed reason? To “fund digital
infrastructure.” That’s completely false.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology told Full Fact: “This is completely false misinformation. The government is not introducing a monthly WiFi charge to fund digital infrastructure.”
The misleading clips — shared widely on Facebook and TikTok — feature footage of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and what sounds like his voice announcing the new charge. The voice claims the fee will begin “next month,” and that everyone, even those who don’t use WiFi, will “have to pay.”
But none of this is real.
Openreach, the company that manages most of the UK’s broadband infrastructure, also confirmed it’s not aware of any such plans.
In fact, the video footage comes from a completely unrelated moment — a speech Starmer gave in September when the UK formally recognised the state of Palestine. The voice in the viral clips doesn’t sync with the footage, and its awkward pacing and phrasing suggest it’s not genuine. It was likely made using AI-generated audio (or possibly a voice impersonator).
These kinds of fake videos are becoming increasingly common on social media, especially TikTok. Recently, similar false claims have spread online, including:
- That the TV licence fee will double for everyone over 65, and
- That the government is restricting essential grocery items. Photo by Krish Dulal, Wikimedia commons.
