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The political party Reform UK has declared its intent to repeal the Online Safety Act, warning that the law grants excessive powers to regulators and poses a serious threat to free speech.
The party claims the legislation, which recently came into force, is presented as a safety measure but in reality undermines civil liberties.
Although the event was announced as a discussion on crime, Reform leader Nigel Farage and his adviser Zia Yusuf devoted most of their Westminster press conference to attacking the legislation.
Their concerns centered on the way the act targets social media platforms and expands the role of the media regulator, Ofcom.
Yusuf, a former party chair who now leads Reform’s efforts on local council reform, said the law was a vast overreach. He warned that it hands regulators the power to pressure platforms into silencing views that challenge the government. According to Yusuf, even companies known for tolerating broad speech would be forced to restrict political discourse.
“So much of the act is massive overreach and plunges this country into a borderline dystopian state,” Yusuf said.
He argued that the legislation uses safety as a cover to expand state control. “Any student of history will know that the way countries slip into this sort of authoritarian regime is through legislation that cloaks tyranny inside the warm fuzz of safety and security and hopes nobody reads the small print.”
Reform UK promised to eliminate the act entirely if it came to power.
Yusuf dismissed tools like age verification as ineffective, claiming children could simply use VPNs to bypass restrictions.
Farage also admitted the party doesn’t have all the answers yet, but insisted they are working with leading technology experts. “Can I stand here and say that we have a perfect answer for you right now? No,” he said. “Can I say that as a party, we have more access to some of the best tech brains, not just in the country, but in the world? That I can say to you.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer responded to questions about the act while in Scotland ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump, and flat out lied in his denial that the government was censoring people.
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Author: Cindy Harper
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