UK ministers summoned to US embassy to discuss Labour's online safety measures
Senior officials from Britain’s DCMS and Foreign Office met US diplomats at the London embassy to answer American concerns about Labour’s proposed internet restrictions.
High-level representatives from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Foreign Office were called to the US embassy in London to field US objections to Labour’s internet crackdown plans. The discussion covered the Online Safety Act’s hefty fines, a proposed ban on social-media access for 12 million children under 16, and a scheme to give preferential visibility to certain broadcasters. US Deputy Chief of Mission Robert W Thomas cited the limited success of a similar ban in Australia and warned that targeting multinational tech firms’ worldwide revenue would be unfair.
State Department spokeswoman Sarah B Rogers labeled the ban as characteristic of “authoritarian, closed societies” and urged the UK to adopt parental-control measures instead. The US also expressed concern that the “trustworthy” source initiative could lead to viewpoint-based censorship.
Why it matters
The talks reveal growing US-UK tension over digital policy and could shape how Britain regulates online content and foreign tech firms.
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