Tech giants told UK online safety laws ‘not up for negotiation’
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Senior cabinet minister promises not to dilute new measures despite Zuckerberg’s attacks on countries ‘censoring’ content. Britain’s new laws to boost safety and tackle hate speech online are “not up for negotiation”, a senior government minister has warned, after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg vowed to join Donald Trump to pressure countries they regard as “censoring” content.
![[Peter Kyle]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5dbeec2c64934811c92ff054361717376163d272/0_333_10000_6000/master/10000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
In an interview with the Observer, Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, said that the recent laws designed to make online platforms safer for children and vulnerable people would never be diluted to help the government woo big tech companies to the UK in its defining pursuit for economic growth.
![[Mark Zuckerberg]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cbc1a96b95223b40a01ea6481be10bb1ac2b9dab/0_26_3936_2362/master/3936.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
His comments come as Keir Starmer prepares a major big tech charm offensive this week in which he will pitch the UK as the “sweet spot” for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. However, the prime minister will do so with his government facing constant and wild attacks from Elon Musk, one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent figures and a leading Trump supporter.
Zuckerberg also used a wide-ranging statement last week to reveal he was ditching “politically biased” factcheckers and reducing restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender on Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
He added that he would “work with President Trump to push back on governments around the world that are going after American companies and pushing to censor more”. While he did not single out the UK, which passed the Online Safety Act last year, Zuckerberg said Europe had “an ever-increasing number of laws institutionalising censorship”.
