FORMER Sun editor David Dinsmore told delegates at a packed Tory conference fringe meeting that his newspapers are vital for “nuance” in politics while social media is causing “polarisation.” 

Dinsmore, who is now chief operating officer of Rupert Murdoch’s News UK business, also claimed that the Sun was partly responsible for the success of Britain’s vaccination effort as he demanded his newspapers be free from new internet regulations in the interests of “democracy.”

Dinsmore was addressing a meeting at the Conservative conference in Manchester organised by the Digital Tories group alongside Damian Collins, the Tory MP chairing the committee of MPs inspecting the new Online Safety Bill, which will regulate web content. 

Dinsmore began his speech by reminding delegates that Murdoch’s News UK had in fact paid for the event, funding the free beer and wine for delegates.

“Great to see you all and great to see me considering I’m buying the drinks,” Dinsmore told the meeting.

He then claimed that the Sun was crucial to Britain’s anti-Covid vaccination effort, saying then health secretary Matt Hancock had contacted the Sun to ask them to “get your readers together to get these jabs into people’s arms. 

“So Victoria Newton, the editor of the Sun, came up with ‘Jabs Army,’ launched it on New Year’s Day and three weeks later had 60,000 people signed up to marshal at vaccination centres. 

“Incredible thing: I think it set, or helped set, the UK on the path to becoming one of the best-vaccinated countries on the planet and put us in a great place.”

Dinsmore made no mention of the NHS. He also claimed that social media caused division but his newspapers brought “nuance.” 

He said: “One of the unintended consequences of social media is that, while it has obviously democratised the media for people and everyone now has a voice — and a louder voice at that — what is has done is caused polarisation,” so “it is vital that we have that professional media sitting in the middle where we can give a platform to nuance.”

News UK was paying for the drinks so Dinsmore could make his claims about the Sun, because Murdoch’s firm wants to make sure the Online Harms Bill being inspected by Damian Collins’s committee of MPs doesn’t limit its newspapers. 

Dinsmore explained to Collins and the delegates that “one of the things we are particularly exercised about is ensuring there is a journalistic carve-out in the new law so Facebook or other platforms don’t suspend content from newspapers like the Sun because they think it breaks new online ‘hate’ laws.” 

Dinsmore said: “We don’t and can’t end up being cancelled for that nuance because the platforms are taking a super safe route as a result of that legislation.”