Oppose Censorship Laws and You’re Supporting Predators Claims UK Labour Minister
Kyle collapses a complex debate into a false binary that silences dissent.
CINDY HARPER
A political storm erupted Tuesday after UK Science Secretary Peter Kyle suggested that anyone pushing to repeal the UK’s new censorship law, the Online Safety Act, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, was effectively aligning themselves with sex offenders.
The Online Safety Act is one of the strictest internet censorship laws in a Western democracy, banning forms of “harm” online, mandating citizens give up their private information to discuss or view content related to “harm,” and has already caused the censorship of protest videos.
More: How the “Think of the Children” Narrative Is Being Used To Crush Online Free Speech and Privacy
With a statement that has drawn intense scrutiny, Kyle declared: “If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.”
His post followed comments made earlier that morning on Sky News, where he claimed: “Nigel Farage is on their side,” referring to individuals he described as “extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence.”
Kyle invoked the notorious case of Jimmy Savile, asserting: “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 is on their side.”
Jimmy Savile was a British TV and radio personality who was one of the most notorious sexual predators in UK history. For decades, he was a prominent figure in British pop culture, known for hosting popular shows like Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It, and for cultivating a public image of charity work, especially with hospitals and children’s institutions.
After his death in 2011, hundreds of allegations surfaced revealing that Savile had committed widespread sexual abuse, including against children.
A 2013 government report concluded that he had abused at least 500 victims, and the crimes spanned from the 1950s to the 2000s.
Farage swiftly condemned the remarks as “disgusting” and demanded a public apology, accusing Kyle and the Labour Party of exploiting victims for political leverage.
Speaking in a video from Reform UK’s headquarters, Farage responded: “Just how low can the Labour Government sink in its desperation?” He denounced Kyle’s comments as “so absolutely disgusting that it’s almost beyond belief” and described the accusation as “below the belt.”
Kyle, however, stood by his claims across multiple media appearances, repeating them on BBC Breakfast, GB News, and Good Morning Britain. On BBC Breakfast, he issued a veiled warning to internet users attempting to bypass restrictions, saying: “For everybody out there who’s thinking about using VPNs, let me say this to you directly: verifying your age keeps a child safe. Keeps children safe in our country, so let’s just not try to find a way around.”
Farage, in response, reiterated his party’s position: the Online Safety Act is a threat not just to free expression, but to public accountability. “What is absolutely clear to me is a problem that runs right through British government,” he said, “legislation passed by the Conservatives, supported by Labour, no doubt aided and abetted by civil servants; none of them have got a clue what they’re doing.”
Reform UK has pledged to scrap the Online Safety Act. At a press conference following Kyle’s remarks, party officials described the Act as a censorship mechanism designed to protect those in power from dissent. Former chairman Zia Yusuf called the law “absolutely nothing to protect children” and claimed it merely worked to “suppress freedom of speech” and “force social media companies to censor anti-government speech.”
Farage concluded his response by calling on supporters to take direct action. “I’ve asked for an apology, we’re not going to get one,” he said. “I think perhaps the best thing we can do is to sign the petition to repeal the Online Safety Act. That’s what I’m going to do today. I’m deeply worried about the implications for free speech.”
This article (Oppose Censorship Laws and You’re Supporting Predators Claims UK Labour Minister) was created and published by Reclaim the Net and is republished here under “Fair Use” with attribution to the author Cindy Harper
See Related Article Below
Farage Demands Apology After Labour Minister Says He is on the Side of Predators like Jimmy Savile for Wanting to Scrap Online Safety Act Over Free Speech Concerns
WILL JONES
Nigel Farage has demanded an apology from Labour Minister Peter Kyle after he accused him of taking the side of paedophiles like Jimmy Savile for wanting to scrap the Online Safety Act over free speech concerns. The Mail has more.
Nigel Farage furiously demanded an apology from a senior Labour minister today after being accused of taking the side of sick paedophiles like Jimmy Savile in a deepening row over an online safety law.
Peter Kyle also accused the Reform UK leader of being on the side of “extreme pornographers” over the party’s pledge to scrap the Online Safety Act over claims it stifles free speech.
The Technology Secretary made the astonishing outburst as he defended the law, which came into effect last Friday and requires social media sites and search engines to take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content like pornography.
Critics including Mr Farage claim that it is being used to stifle free speech by blocking people from seeing some political statements online, especially those by Right-wing figures.
But Mr Kyle told Sky News he had seen no evidence that the Online Safety Act “goes too far”.
He added: “I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he’s going to overturn these laws. So you know, 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’d be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he’s on their side.”
Mr Farage labelled the comments “disgusting” and demanded an apology. But Mr Kyle later doubled down on his remarks.
Appearing on GB News the Minister said: “There is no definitive grey area about this.
“Either you’re on the side of predators and paedophiles, as Nigel Farage is, because he wants them to have more access to our children online than you are with the Labour Party, where we are making sure we are holding the tech companies to account to prevent that kind of access, to keep children safer, and we can do so also at the time of also reinforcing freedom.’”
In a later broadcast from Reform UK’s London headquarters, Mr Farage played back Peter Kyle’s comments, adding: “Well this is so absolutely disgusting that it’s almost beyond belief. Just how low can the Labour Government sink in its desperation?
“Yes, of course they’re in trouble. They’re well behind us in the opinion polls. But frankly to say that I would do anything that would in any way aid and abet people like Jimmy Savile, it’s so below the belt it’s almost not true.”
Former BBC television presenter and DJ Savile, who died aged 84 in 2011, is believed to have been one of Britain’s most prolific paedophiles, whose crimes went undiscovered or unchallenged for decades.
Asked to clarify his comments, Mr Kyle said: “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.”
Reform UK would scrap the Online Safety Act as a “dystopian” infringement of free speech, the party announced yesterday.
During the press conference, Mr Farage acknowledged that his party did not have “a perfect answer” for what could replace the Act, but said his party had “more access to some of the best tech brains, not just in the country but in the world” and would “make a much better job of it”.
Former party chairman Zia Yusuf said the Act, intended to reduce online harm, did “absolutely nothing to protect children’ but worked to ‘suppress freedom of speech” and “force social media companies to censor anti-government speech”.
Addressing a press conference at Reform’s headquarters in Westminster, Mr Yusuf said: “We will repeal this Act as one of the first things a Reform government does.”
The intervention came after it emerged that X blocked a powerful speech on grooming gangs by Tory shadow minister Katie Lam in Parliament this year.
Meanwhile, footage of arrests during asylum seeker hotel protests was also blocked “due to local laws”, according to the social media platform.
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