Former party chairman Zia Yusuf said the Act, intended to reduce online harm, did “absolutely nothing to protect children” but worked to “suppress freedom of speech” and “force social media companies to censor anti-government speech”. Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf said the Online Safety Act did not protect children, but pushed them to more dangerous parts of the internet (Lucy North/PA)This includes introducing age verification for websites and ensuring algorithms do not work to harm children by, for example, pushing such content towards them when online. Failing to comply with the new rules could incur fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a firm’s global turnover, whichever is greater. Former detective Colin Sutton has agreed to join Reform UK as a police and crime adviser (Lucy North/PA)A Labour Party spokesperson said repealing the Online Safety Act would “scrap vital protections for young people online and recklessly open the floodgates to kids being exposed to extreme digital content”. Farage would give children access to material on suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography.

Source: The Times July 28, 2025 12:55 UTC