JD Vance wants review of UK speech laws included in trade deal: Report

The United States trade talks with the UK reportedly include a condition from Vice President J.D. Vance

that Britain roll back its hate speech laws, which Vance says violate free speech rights

a move he says is necessary before a trade deal can be finalized

The report that this is a red line from Vance comes from the news outlet The Independent

which cites an anonymous Washington figure. It comes after Vance said, there is a good chance of the U.S. and U.K. reaching a trade agreement

The U.K.'s Prime Minister confirmed in early April that U.K.'s online safety rules are up for negotiation

with the U.S. in a Parliament session April 7th. Starmer telling Parliament a review over how the Online Safety Act and the U.K.'s new digital markets rulebook

are being implemented and enforced are part of the trade talks. And now according to this report changes to its online speech laws could be a must for the vice president We reached out to the White House over the report but as of this recording have not received a response back But we know Vance has previously

expressed his opposition to UK speech laws, including in the Oval Office during Starmer's

visit last month. But we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually

affect not just the British, of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them

but also affect American technology companies and, by extension, American citizens. So that is something that we'll talk about today at lunch

We've had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom

and it will last for a very, very long time. And during a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany in February

Vance again pointed to concerns he has over speech laws in the UK and Europe more broadly

And perhaps most concerningly I look to our very dear friends the United Kingdom where the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular in the crosshairs A little over two years ago the British government charged Adam Smith Conner a 51 physiotherapist and an army veteran

with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes

In Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat

The UK's Online Safety Act passed in 2023 is intended to make the internet a safer space, specifically for children

Starmer said of the speech laws it's working in its efforts to protect children from pedophiles and stands by UK having strong free speech protections

Vance, along with critics, suggests this law, along with others, including the Public Order Act of 2023

which Vance referenced in his speech about buffer zones, is infringing on people's rights

with the laws allowing officials to police what they deem as harmful content hate speech or actions that are offensive to others In 2023 UK police made over 12 arrests for online messages deemed offensive or 30 arrests a day according to a

records review from British newspaper The Times. Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is also a

critic of UK's policing of speech online. It was reported this week the former Conservative Party

leader plans to launch her own free speech platform later this summer. In remarks made

teasing her social media site, Trust said she has worries over speech suppression online

Starmer says while the U.S. and U.K. are currently in trade talks

he gave no deadline on when a deal could be struck. Thanks for watching our news update. If we receive a response back from the White House

over reports of Vance's red line negotiations. We will update our news article, which you can

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