Reform UK has pledged to repeal the Online Safety Act, with leader Nigel Farage and party chair Zia Yusuf arguing that the legislation would turn the UK into a “borderline dystopian state”. Speaking at a Westminster press conference, they criticised the act’s measures to compel social media companies to limit harmful content, claiming it would force censorship of anti-government speech.
Yusuf stated that a Reform government would immediately scrap the act and seek alternative ways to protect children from harmful content, such as that related to suicide. However, when pressed on specifics, Farage admitted they did not yet have a perfect answer, but asserted that the party had access to world-leading tech expertise not available to the current government.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, responding to the pledge during a meeting in Scotland, defended the act, saying it was “not censoring anyone” and was solely intended to protect children. He emphasised the UK’s long tradition of free speech, which he vowed to protect.
Farage also used the press conference to link migration to rising crime, particularly sexual offences. He claimed that arrivals from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Eritrea were responsible for an increase in rapes and sexual assaults, echoing far-right rhetoric. The event was officially to introduce retired detective Colin Sutton as Reform’s crime and policing consultant.
The Molly Rose Foundation, a suicide prevention charity, criticised the repeal pledge, calling it a “retrograde move” that would put children at greater risk and was out of step with public opinion, citing polling that showed support for the act.
