Reform UK pledges to repeal Online Safety Act branding it 'borderline dystopian'
Reform UK has pledged to repeal the Online Safety Act, branding the Government’s latest attempt to limit harmful content on the internet as “borderline dystopian.”
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Speaking during a press conference in Westminster, Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf branded the act, which blocks adult and pornography websites for anyone not willing to verify their age online, as a “massive overreach.”
The Online Safety Act came into effect on Friday, overhauling how Brits are able to interact with the internet in efforts to protect children from harmful content.
Under the rules, social media companies and websites need to meet strict rules - including "robust" age checks to prevent access to pornography.
“So much of the act is massive overreach and plunges this country into a borderline dystopian state,” Zia Yusuf said.
He said the act could see social media companies “censor anti-government speech.”
Labour has strongly denied the act could lead to censorship.
“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,” Yusuf went on.
The former Reform chairman branded the act “pointless”, claiming young children will just VPNs to bypass any content filters.
“Can I stand here and say that we have a perfect answer for you right now? No,” he added.
“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.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage would scrap vital protections for young people online, and recklessly open the floodgates to kids being exposed to extreme digital content. Reform offers anger but no answers.”