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The government is making the internet safer for children. But ongoing negotiations towards a UK-US trade deal could threaten that progress, writes Director of the Trade Justice Movement Tom Wills
By Tom Wills
In recent years, the UK has begun developing a sensible approach to keeping people, particularly children, safe online.
We have the Online Safety Act, which is designed to make online platforms take greater responsibility for the harm their services can cause. The government has also announced plans to ban under-16s from social media, with implementation expected in spring 2027. These measures are popular with parents and the general public.
Yet new Trade Justice Movement research shows that if the UK and US finalise the tech-focused trade deal under discussion since May last year, both the Online Safety Act and the social media ban could be at risk. We could end up putting Musk and Zuckerberg's profits ahead of the safety of our young people.
To understand how trade rules could derail the online safety agenda, we need to look at how these regulations actually work.
The Online Safety Act is intended to drive fundamental changes in how tech companies operate. Rather than removing harmful content after children have seen it, platforms must assess the risks their services pose and take proactive steps to protect users. That means Ofcom, the regulator that enforces the Act, needs access to information about tech platforms’ systems and processes to ensure the law is followed.
But rules Trump has pushed for in recent US trade agreements include measures that protect companies’ software and algorithms from government scrutiny. These rules are likely to feature in any UK-US deal and could let the US challenge the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act.
If a platform argues that revealing information about its algorithm breaches the rules in the trade deal, the UK could face a costly dispute simply for trying to establish whether children are being protected. The US would no doubt argue it was protecting its tech firms' intellectual property, but Ofcom would be hobbled, unable to perform its key function in online safety.
The social media ban is also in the crosshairs of the US government, which is never shy to do the bidding of the most powerful US tech firms. The proposal is intended to reduce children’s exposure to harmful content on platforms like Facebook, X and Instagram. But again, there’s a potential bump in the road coming up.
Most trade deals contain measures to protect companies from unfair discrimination based on where they’re from and the UK-US deal would no doubt include similar provisions. The major social media platforms are all owned and operated by American companies. That means the US could challenge the social media ban as a measure that unfairly targets US firms, however absurd that sounds.
A challenge to UK regulation brought via a trade agreement would not necessarily succeed. But the possibility of a dispute, and the risk of political or economic reprisals, would put significant pressure on UK ministers.
It’s a messy situation, but the solution is clear. The UK government should stop negotiating this with Trump behind closed doors. We need to know what they aim to achieve with this trade deal and what their red lines are.
At a minimum, ministers should explain how fundamental issues, including children’s online safety, as well as data protection laws and AI regulation, will be protected in any deal with Trump. Children’s safety must not be a bargaining chip in negotiations.
____________________
Tom Wills is the Director of the Trade Justice Movement.
LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.
To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk
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