Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said Reform’s plan to scrap online safety laws would open the floodgates of ‘people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate’
Sky News: Peter Kyle claims Farage would be on ‘Savile’s side’
The Technology Secretary has said Nigel Farage is on the side of people like Jimmy Savile after the Reform UK leader said he’d scrap protections for kids online.
Peter Kyle said repealing online safety laws would open the floodgates of “people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence” onto children’s social media feeds. And he said if disgraced Savile – one of the UK’s most prolific sexual predators – was alive today, Mr Farage would be “perpetuating” criminals like him.
Mr Farage yesterday said his party would abolish the Online Safety Act if it got into power. It would mean removing Ofcom’s children’s safety codes, which came into force on Friday and which order tech companies to bring in age verification tools, tame toxic algorithms and remove harmful content.
The Reform UK leader hit back at Mr Kyle’s comments, branding them “disgusting” and asking him to apologise.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, Mr Kyle said: “I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he’s going to overturn these laws. We have people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side.
“Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he would be perpetrating his crimes online, and Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side, not the side of children.”
Asked if he genuinely thought Mr Farage was on Savile’s side, Mr Kyle continued: “When it comes to online activity, we have seen unfettered access of adults to children via social media. When we put in the age verification, it stops strange adults getting in touch with children.
“Nigel Farage is on the side of turning the clock back to the time when strange adults, strangers can get in touch via messaging apps with children. We have now asked them to verify the age in which people can have access to online content, so we can protect children from unwanted, dangerous content, and also those messaging services where people can get access directly to it.”
Mr Farage responded: “Peter Kyle’s comments on Sky News are disgusting. He should do the right thing and apologise.”
Yesterday, Mr Farage admitted he had no idea how he would keep kids safe online if he abolished online safety laws. Asked how he would, Mr Farage told journalists: “Can I stand here and say that we have a perfect answer for you right now? No.”
Elsewhere, Mr Kyle acknowledged there was an issue with people using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the rules, after one supplier reported a 1,400% increase in downloads. He said he is not considering banning VPNs, adding: “We’re going to be looking very, very closely at use of VPNs.
“We’re going to be looking very closely at the ability of these tech companies to detect VPNs from within our country and make sure that people stick to the rules.”
And the Cabinet minister admitted the rules were never going to keep 100% of children safe but that the new laws were a “big step forward” in keeping most people safe. “People have to understand the wild west that children have been living in for too long,” he said. “That ended on my watch. It ended on the watch of this government. It’s a big step forward.”