Nigel Farage has urged Technology Secretary Peter Kyle to “do the right thing and apologise” after he suggested that by opposing the government’s online safety law, the Reform UK leader was on the side of sex offenders like Jimmy Savile.
Reform has said it would scrap the new law, arguing it does not protect children and suppresses free speech.
Kyle told Sky News: “Make no mistake if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today he would be perpetrating his crimes online – and Nigel Farage is on their side.”
Farage called the minister’s comments “absolutely disgusting” and asked: “Just how low can the Labour government sink?”
Kyle refused to back down after Farage’s criticism, saying on social media: “If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.”
Savile was a BBC TV personality who presented shows such as Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It but after his death it emerged he had been one of the UK’s most prolific sexual predators, using his celebrity status to target children and young people.
Last week, the new online safety rules came into force aimed at preventing children from seeing harmful or inappropriate content.
Measures include requiring tech firms to put in place stricter checks for people accessing age-restricted content and taking quick action when harmful content is identified.
Failure to comply with the rules could see companies facing fines of up to £18m or 10% of the firm’s turnover, whichever is greater.
The age verification measures appear to have driven a sharp increase in the numbers downloading virtual private networks (VPN) which disguise user’s location online and could make it possible to avoid age checks.
Over the weekend Reform’s Yusuf said: “Sending all of these kids onto VPNs is a far worse situation, and sends them much closer to the dark web, where the real dangers lie.”
He added that one of Reform’s first acts in government would be to repeal the Online Safety Act.
Asked what Reform UK would put in its place, Farage said his party did not have a “perfect answer” but had “more access to some of the best tech brains, not just in the country but in the world” and would “make a much better job of it”.
Speaking to Sky News, Kyle acknowledged that “some people are finding their way round” the rules but said the government would not be banning VPNs.
He said the measures were a “huge, giant, unprecedented step forward in stopping harmful content finding its way into children’s feeds”.
“If we can take a big step forward, 70, 80, maybe even 90% forward when it comes to stopping harmful content getting into kids’ feeds – I’ll bank that, that’s a good day at work.
“That 10% that remains – we will go on figuring it out as we go forward.
“I see that Nigel Farage is already saying he is going to overturn these laws.
“We have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence – Nigel Farage is on their side.
“Make no mistake if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today he would be perpetrating his crimes online – and Nigel Farage is on their side.”
Speaking to the same channel, Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf said: “That is one of the most outrageous and disgusting things a politician has said in the political arena that I can remember, and that is quite a high bar.
He claimed Labour “have no idea how the internet works and that this act, despite its name, will make children less safe”.
“They are deeply unserious about child safety and levelling that accusation about Jimmy Savile denigrates the victims of Jimmy Savile,” he added.
Conservative MP Katie Lam also questioned the law after the social media platform X blocked users who had not verified their age from viewing a clip of her speaking in Parliament about grooming gangs.
Users who have not verified their age are shown a message from X reading: “Due to local laws, we are temporarily restricting access to this content until X estimates your age.”
Lam said: “The British state won’t protect children from mass gang rape. But it will “protect” adults from hearing about it.”
Before becoming Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch criticised the Online Safety Bill, which had been drawn up by her own party.
In 2022, she said: “This bill is in no fit state to become law. If I’m elected prime minister I will ensure the bill doesn’t overreach. We should not be legislating for hurt feelings.”
Asked about implications for freedom of speech, Kyle said “I will be monitoring the impact, but I have not so far seen anything that gives me concern for anyone about free speech grounds.
“We have very strident protections for free speech in this country.
“This is not about free speech. This is about hateful, violent, extreme, misogynistic and pornographic material finding its way into children’s feeds.”
