Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that Britain "fiercely" protects free speech, but when it was used to incite real harm to children and vulnerable people there was a limit.
"Free speech is one of the founding values of the United Kingdom, and we protect it jealously and fiercely and always will," Starmer told reporters as he stood alongside U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I draw a limit between free speech and the speech of those that want to peddle pedophilia and suicide (on) social media to children," he said.
"Therefore I'm all for free speech, but I'm also for protecting children from things that will harm them."
Britain's new Online Safety Law requires social media companies to remove illegal content on their platforms.
Encouraging self-harm, for example, was made a criminal offence so it was covered by the law.
An attempt by the previous government to ban content that was deemed to "harmful but legal" was abandoned because it risked curbing free speech.
However, police action over social media posts, such as the arrest of Irish comedian Graham Linehan for publishing comments about transgender issues on X earlier this month, had raised questions about how existing laws should apply online.
The police defended Linehan's arrest, but said its officers were in an "impossible position" arbitrating between free speech and criminal content.
Global oil prices continue to rise, currently surpassing $119 a barrel this Monday, an almost four year high following fresh U.S.-Israeli...
Iranian civilian and military officials have pledged their obedience to the new lead...
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused...
Kazakhstan has evacuated more than 7,300 citizens from the Middle East since regiona...
Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, has appeared in court on Monday alongside 400 co-defendants in a sprawling corruption case that critics s...
Global oil prices continue to rise, currently surpassing $119 a barrel this Monday, an almost four year high following fresh U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting oil depots. Stock markets shares slumped on fears the conflict with Iran could disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian civilian and military officials have pledged their obedience to the new leader, Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying his leadership “will herald a new era of dignity and authority for the Iranian nation.”.
Kazakhstan has evacuated more than 7,300 citizens from the Middle East since regional tensions escalated, using both air and land routes to bring nationals home while closely monitoring political developments and potential economic effects linked to rising oil prices.
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including those in transit, will resume on 9 March, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
Global oil prices continue to rise, currently surpassing $119 a barrel this Monday, an almost four year high following fresh U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting oil depots. Stock markets shares slumped on fears the conflict with Iran could disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened further attacks on Iran on Saturday (7 March), while the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia continued to shoot down missiles in their airspace. Meanwhile, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would stop attacking its neighbours.
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s second largest city in the early hours of Saturday (7 March) killed 10 people, including two children. Kharkiv mayor, Ihor Terekov, said 10 residents died after a Russian ballistic missile hit a five storey apartment block in the city.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
An explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday (9 March) in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reports.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 9th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Global oil prices continue to rise, currently surpassing $119 a barrel this Monday, an almost four year high following fresh U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting oil depots. Stock markets shares slumped on fears the conflict with Iran could disrupt shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
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