Labour will not ban VPNs: Is the UK Online Safety Act threatening 'free speech'?

Tech secretary Peter Kyle has pushed back against a damning US government report accusing the UK of backsliding on human rights and curbing freedom of expression under Labour. The annual State Department dossier, published on Tuesday, warned that Britain’s human rights record had “worsened during the year” amid “serious restrictions on freedom of expression”, and singled out the government’s new Online Safety Act as a key factor. The report said the UK had urged technology companies, including major US social media platforms, to “censor speech deemed misinformation or ‘hate speech’”, and cited claims of a “two-tier justice system” following the Axel Rudakubana killings, calling it “an especially grievous example of government censorship” against ordinary citizens. Kyle hit back on Thursday, telling the LBC that the UK has “fantastic” and “historic” measures. Read more of the story here 👇 https://www.cityam.com/peter-kyle-defends-uk-free-speech-record-after-us-report-attacks-online-safety-act/ Get more of City AM 👇 🌐 http://www.cityam.com X(formerly Twitter): http://twitter.com/CityAM Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cityam Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/city_am LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/cityam Produced by: Saskia Koopman, Scarlett Wild, Matt Kenyon, Emmanuel Nwosu