Meanwhile over at The Telegraph:
The Government is willing to rework its Online Safety Act in order to swerve tariffs from Donald Trump’s administration.
The law, which regulates online speech, is thought to be heavily disliked by the president’s administration because it can levy massive fines on US tech companies.
Downing Street is willing to renegotiate elements of the Act in order to strike a trade deal, should it be raised by the US, The Telegraph understands.
…
Elon Musk, one of the president’s closest advisers, is among those inside the administration understood to be concerned about online regulation in the UK.
Congressional Republican sources said Mr Musk was pushing Mr Trump to raise curbs on social media regulation in trade talks with the UK.
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One well-placed source suggested that Mr Trump’s friendship with major tech executives would strengthen his stance on free speech policies in other countries.
Another source close to the Trump’s administration suggested the act was viewed as “Orwellian” in the US and could become a flashpoint in negotiations.
“To many people that are currently in power, they feel the United Kingdom has become a dystopian, Orwellian place where people have to keep silent about things that aren’t fashionable,” they said.
“The administration hate it [Online Safety Act]. Congress has been saying that [it is a concern] ever since it was enacted. Those in the administration are saying the exact same thing.”
Mr Musk has been gearing up for a fight with the regulator Ofcom, which will be granted the new powers in the coming weeks.
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Mr Musk has said: “Thank goodness Donald Trump will be president just in time,” in response to the new powers handed to Ofcom when the Online Safety Act comes into force in March.
Lord Young of Acton, the founder of the Free Speech Union, said the Government was on a collision course with US tech chiefs.
He said: “If Ofcom tries to fine X or Facebook 10 per cent of their global turnover for not removing content that isn’t unlawful, I predict a showdown between Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and the UK Government.
“If that happens, Trump will side with his tech bros and tell Sir Keir that if he wants a trade deal, he’ll call off his dogs.”
Andrew Hale, a trade policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said the Act was seen as a “roadblock” in any trade deal by Mr Trump’s closest allies.
He said: “Every meeting I have to discuss trade policy with people either in the administration or people in congress they always raise that. They say, ‘This is a huge roadblock’.”
It’s an opportunity for the UK government to rework the act though and improve it. They could even through in a few new conditions:
- No content deliberately spreading misinformation, or lies.
- No content going against established scientific, peer reviewed research
- No content that violates anyone or any groups human rights to gender, sexuality, race, religion, right to live/work etc etc.
That’s the kind of thing you would hope to see in Labour legislation. This Tory bill seems to just assume everyone is a business and the whole thing seems pitched on a “won’t someone think of the children?” level, rather than as a way to detoxify social media.
The previous article is the government’s current position, this is where the lobbying money is going and I doubt there are any surprises about who is funding the “think” tanks the Free Speech Union and the Heritage Foundation.
Quite what will happen when these two worlds collide will be worth watching. Labour will be forced to defend a Tory law that they admit is a mess, against significant headwinds coming from the Big Web.
