Technology Minister accuses Nigel Farage of being on the side of 'Jimmy Savile' in online safety row
The comments were made while Kyle was defending the act and the recently implemented age verification checks which have come in to force on websites hosting harmful or adult content.
Asked about Farage's criticism of the new laws and promise to scrap them should he come in to power, Kyle said: 'I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he's going to overturn these laws. So you know, we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side.
'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side.'
Kyle initially made the comments speaking to Sky News, with Farage branding them disgusting and calling on the minister to apologise.
Former Reform Party Chairman Zia Yusuf also expressed outrage, describing Kyle's remarks as 'one of the most outrageous and disgusting things a politician has said in the political arena".
He added: 'Talking about Jimmy Savile in that way does nothing other than denigrate the victims of Jimmy Savile.'
Despite this, Kyle refused to apologise when pushed to do so in a later interview with ITV News, standing by his earlier comments.
"If you're against the Online Safety Act and want to overturn it you are on the side of predators and pedophiles," Kyle insisted.
"Nigel Farage is therefore on the side of predators and pedophiles and he needs to be called out for it."
"Nigel Farage is therefore on the side of predators and pedophiles," Peter Kyle insisted.
Concerns had been raised from both Farage's party and other MPs, as well as the public, that in recent days there has been a large spike in the download of VPNs, services that allow users to bypass age verification checks by pretending they are browsing from another country.
Some are concerned rather than protect children, the new laws are too easily avoided and may end up pushing children to darker corners of the internet.
Reform UK have also voiced specific objection to what they see as an attack on free speech.
On Monday Reform announced their policy would be to scrap the entire act, describing it as a 'dystopian' infringement of free speech.
Addressing a press conference at Reform's London headquarters, Zia Yusuf claimed the act did 'absolutely nothing to protect children' but worked to 'suppress freedom of speech' and 'force social media companies to censor anti-government speech".
The prime minister denied these laws had anything to do with censoring free speech when questioned about them during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump.
'We're not censoring anyone," said Starmer.
'We've got some measures which are there to protect children, in particular, from sites like suicide sites.'
He added: 'I personally feel very strongly that we should protect our young teenagers, and that's what it usually is, from things like suicide sites. I don't see that as a free speech issue, I see that as child protection.'
Under rules that came into effect on July 25, online platforms such as social media sites and search engines must take steps to prevent children accessing harmful content such as pornography or material that encourages suicide.
This includes introducing age verification for websites and ensuring algorithms do not work to harm children by pushing such content towards them when online, for example.
Failing to comply with the new rules could incur fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a firm's global turnover, whichever is greater.
On Tuesday a petition on the government's website to repeal the act stood close to 400,000 signatories and as such will be scheduled for debate by MPs.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
19 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Long-serving ex-Tory MP Adam Holloway joins Reform
Adam Holloway, who represented Gravesham in Kent between 2005 and 2024, said on Wednesday he had become the latest ex-MP to join Nigel Farage's party. The 59-year-old former Army officer said: 'There comes a moment for many soldiers – and most politicians – when you realise the battle you think you're fighting isn't the one your leaders are waging. 'That moment came for me watching Kemi Badenoch tell Trevor Phillips there are real differences between Reform UK and the Conservatives. She was right. 'The difference is the Reform leadership and voters grasp the scale of our national peril and back a party serious about addressing it.' Mr Holloway is at least the eighth former Tory MP to have joined Reform since the last election, following former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, former Wales secretary David Jones and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty for the party in May. Having served in the Grenadier Guards for five years, including during the Gulf War, Mr Holloway worked as a journalist for ITV and ITN before his election to Parliament in 2005. A strong supporter of Brexit, he was briefly a whip under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss and was one of six Tory MPs to vote against censuring Mr Johnson after he was found to have misled the Commons over the Partygate scandal. He was himself reprimanded by Parliament's standards watchdog after improperly attempting to prevent the release of a character reference he had provided for former Tory colleague Charlie Elphicke, who was jailed for two years in 2020 for sexual assault. He lost his seat in last year's general election, falling 2,712 votes behind Labour's Lauren Sullivan. During the campaign, he told voters that backing Reform was 'effectively taking a vote from me' and 'helping Labour'. Mr Farage said he was 'delighted' to welcome Mr Holloway to the party, saying his parliamentary and military experience would be 'vital' ahead of the next election. He added: 'His bold move shows that we are the only serious option in Kent and is testament to the fantastic work our councillors are delivering across the region.'
North Wales Chronicle
19 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Long-serving ex-Tory MP Adam Holloway joins Reform
Adam Holloway, who represented Gravesham in Kent between 2005 and 2024, said on Wednesday he had become the latest ex-MP to join Nigel Farage's party. The 59-year-old former Army officer said: 'There comes a moment for many soldiers – and most politicians – when you realise the battle you think you're fighting isn't the one your leaders are waging. 'That moment came for me watching Kemi Badenoch tell Trevor Phillips there are real differences between Reform UK and the Conservatives. She was right. 'The difference is the Reform leadership and voters grasp the scale of our national peril and back a party serious about addressing it.' Mr Holloway is at least the eighth former Tory MP to have joined Reform since the last election, following former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, former Wales secretary David Jones and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty for the party in May. Having served in the Grenadier Guards for five years, including during the Gulf War, Mr Holloway worked as a journalist for ITV and ITN before his election to Parliament in 2005. A strong supporter of Brexit, he was briefly a whip under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss and was one of six Tory MPs to vote against censuring Mr Johnson after he was found to have misled the Commons over the Partygate scandal. He was himself reprimanded by Parliament's standards watchdog after improperly attempting to prevent the release of a character reference he had provided for former Tory colleague Charlie Elphicke, who was jailed for two years in 2020 for sexual assault. He lost his seat in last year's general election, falling 2,712 votes behind Labour's Lauren Sullivan. During the campaign, he told voters that backing Reform was 'effectively taking a vote from me' and 'helping Labour'. Mr Farage said he was 'delighted' to welcome Mr Holloway to the party, saying his parliamentary and military experience would be 'vital' ahead of the next election. He added: 'His bold move shows that we are the only serious option in Kent and is testament to the fantastic work our councillors are delivering across the region.'
South Wales Guardian
19 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Long-serving ex-Tory MP Adam Holloway joins Reform
Adam Holloway, who represented Gravesham in Kent between 2005 and 2024, said on Wednesday he had become the latest ex-MP to join Nigel Farage's party. The 59-year-old former Army officer said: 'There comes a moment for many soldiers – and most politicians – when you realise the battle you think you're fighting isn't the one your leaders are waging. 'That moment came for me watching Kemi Badenoch tell Trevor Phillips there are real differences between Reform UK and the Conservatives. She was right. 'The difference is the Reform leadership and voters grasp the scale of our national peril and back a party serious about addressing it.' Mr Holloway is at least the eighth former Tory MP to have joined Reform since the last election, following former party chairman Sir Jake Berry, former Wales secretary David Jones and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who won the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty for the party in May. Having served in the Grenadier Guards for five years, including during the Gulf War, Mr Holloway worked as a journalist for ITV and ITN before his election to Parliament in 2005. A strong supporter of Brexit, he was briefly a whip under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss and was one of six Tory MPs to vote against censuring Mr Johnson after he was found to have misled the Commons over the Partygate scandal. He was himself reprimanded by Parliament's standards watchdog after improperly attempting to prevent the release of a character reference he had provided for former Tory colleague Charlie Elphicke, who was jailed for two years in 2020 for sexual assault. He lost his seat in last year's general election, falling 2,712 votes behind Labour's Lauren Sullivan. During the campaign, he told voters that backing Reform was 'effectively taking a vote from me' and 'helping Labour'. Mr Farage said he was 'delighted' to welcome Mr Holloway to the party, saying his parliamentary and military experience would be 'vital' ahead of the next election. He added: 'His bold move shows that we are the only serious option in Kent and is testament to the fantastic work our councillors are delivering across the region.'
