Posted 1/13/2024, 5:38:19 PM
Essex Council Cuts Services to Pay £500k for Controversial Blogger's Pandemic Facebook Work
- Essex County Council paid blogger Simon Harris £500,000 to run its Facebook page during the pandemic from 2020-2023
- His job was to share COVID-19 information and volunteer opportunities, with claimed 3-5 million page impressions per month
- Council now making £32M in cuts to services and raising local taxes to help pay for children's services and Harris contract
- Payments to Harris covered more than just social media work, including supporting similar efforts across the county
- Harris known for fake news website, charity fundraising pranks against Nigel Farage; faced backlash over council contract