Online Safety Act ‘not up for negotiation’ in US trade talks, says minister
Baroness Jones said the UK will not consider watering down online safety rules to appease US tech giants and secure a trade deal with the US.
The Online Safety Act is “not up for negotiation” and will not be part of any trade deal discussions with the United States, MPs have heard.
There have been reports that, in the wake of lobbying from US-based tech giants, President Donald Trump would push the UK to water down online safety laws in exchange for a trade deal or relief from tariffs.
But when asked directly by MPs on the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee if the Act could be part of trade negotiations, parliamentary under-secretary for online safety Baroness Jones of Whitchurch said: “The Prime Minister has made it absolutely clear that the Online Safety Act is not up for negotiation.
“It’s not part of the trade deal discussions. We’ve made that clear, and the fact is that the Online Safety Act is a piece of legislation – it can’t just be negotiated away.
“It’s well through the process of being implemented, so it can’t be changed, and we’re happy to reassure everybody that we are sticking with the Online Safety Act.”
The online safety rules are currently being steadily rolled out and, once fully in place, will require platforms hosting user-generated content, such as social media sites, to protect users, in particular children, from illegal and harmful content, as well as put measures in place to ensure users do not encounter harm.
Those found in breach of the rules could face fines of up to £18 million, or up to 10% of global turnover – whichever is greater – and, in the most serious cases, sites could be blocked from the UK.
Giving evidence earlier in the session, Mark Bunting, from Ofcom, said that, had the Online Safety Act been in force during last summer’s riots, which were sparked by misinformation spreading on social media in the wake of the Southport stabbings, platforms would have faced action from the communications regulator.
During an appearance before the committee in February, tech firms including Meta, TikTok and X had suggested very little would have been different had the online safety rules been in force, but Mr Bunting did not agree.
“I think we were very clear that we thought there were a number of questions that the tech firms would have had to answer had the duties been in force when those events took place,” he told MPs.
“Now, I don’t want to go back and legislate events that happened before the duties were in force, but I think I can say that we don’t think the companies are sufficiently, consistently or effectively responding to events of this kind, and, as the committee will probably be aware, we’re working now on proposals for further measures in our codes of practice for companies to implement crisis response protocols, specifically in response to the events of last summer.
“It will expect companies to be doing a lot more and to be able to be much more accountable for their response than they have been in the past.”