An ally of Donald Trump and critic of the Online Safety Act is to raise his concerns about the UK legislation with Technology Secretary Peter Kyle on Wednesday, Sky News understands.
It comes after Mr Kyle was criticised on Tuesday morning for claiming Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was “on the side” of predators, including the disgraced television host Jimmy Savile, for opposing the act.
Representative Jim Jordan is chair of the powerful House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, and is currently part of a bipartisan group meeting governments in Europe on the topic of digital regulation.
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In a thread on social media recently, Mr Jordan called the Online Safety Act the “UK’s online censorship law”.
He added: “It allows the British government to dictate how social media companies must censor so-called ‘disinformation’ ‘misinformation’, and hate speech.”
Mr Jordan also heavily criticised regulator Ofcom – which is the watchdog for the law – for “targeting” and “harassing” American companies. He is set to meet them on Wednesday too.
Sky News understands he will make his views known to Mr Kyle on Wednesday.
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Farage demands apology over ‘Savile’ remark
The law was passed in 2023 under the Conservative government, but only came into force last Friday.
It puts a duty on technology companies to protect children from harmful content, including pornography, terrorism, and violent content, with businesses facing sanctions if they fail to comply.
But Mr Jordan – a Republican – champions an American perspective that laws from other countries should not apply to US businesses, even if they operate overseas.
He said on social media that “in many cases”, British laws “run counter to fundamental American free speech principles”.
While the UK managed to get a favourable trade deal with the US, attempts to punish US technology companies could be taken with a dim view in the White House during further talks.
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Farage demands apology from Kyle
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Speaking next to Donald Trump on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer defended the law.
He said: “We’re not censoring anyone. We’ve got some measures which are there to protect children, in particular, from sites like suicide sites.”
The prime minister added: “I personally feel very strongly that we should protect our young teenagers, and that’s what it usually is, from things like suicide sites. I don’t see that as a free speech issue, I see that as child protection.”
Mr Trump joked his own social media platform, Truth Social, would not get banned, saying: “I only say good things about him and this country.”
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A Judiciary Committee spokesperson declined to comment.
Sky News understands that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology wants to discuss a range of topics in the meeting.
Ofcom declined to comment.
