Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK guards free speech “preciously” and denied that the Online Safety Act was a form of censorship.
The Prime Minister made the comments after an earlier exchange with Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, in which he reaffirmed the UK’s long history of freedom of expression.
US Vice President JD Vance at a security conference in Munich, Germany
Speaking to Fox News, Sir Keir said: “We actually had some exchanges today about things like freedom of speech. We got on very well, by the way.
“We had a really good discussion over lunch and I made clear we’ve had freedom of speech in the United Kingdom for a very very long time and we guard it preciously.”
Asked if the UK’s Online Safety Act meant it was trying to censor speech, Sir Keir responded: “No we don’t believe in censoring speech, but of course we do need to deal with terrorism. We need to deal with paedophiles and issues like that.
“But I talked to the vice president about it today and we had a good exchange about it.
“And of course, he’s right to champion free speech. We champion free speech in the United Kingdom.”
Andy Burrows, chief executive of Molly Rose Foundation, called on Sir Keir to “stand up unequivocally for UK children and families by strengthening not weakening online safety regulation”.
He said: “Parents would be aghast at any suggestion that online safety laws should be watered down because of geopolitics or lobbying at the behest of US companies.
“The Prime Minister should push back strongly against false claims that the safety of children is somehow at odds with freedom of speech.
“While parents don’t have the same voice as the vice president or tech firms, it’s their voices that the Prime Minister should be listening to. Sir Keir Starmer can stand up unequivocally for UK children and families by strengthening not weakening online safety regulation.”
Mr Vance said during a speech at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month that European governments, including the UK’s, had retreated from their values and ignored voter concerns on migration and free speech.
Sitting alongside the Prime Minister and US President Donald Trump, Mr Vance responded to a question about these remarks: “Look, I said what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the UK, and also some of our European allies.
“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.”
Sir Keir then responded: “Well, 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.
“Certainly, we wouldn’t want to reach across US citizens, and we don’t, and that’s absolutely right, but in relation to free speech in the UK I’m very proud of our history there.”