Starmer 'appeasing' big tech firms, says online safety campaigner

Source: BBC Technology

Government’s stance

The government rejected the claims, with a spokesperson saying it had already introduced “some of the strongest online safety protections in the world”. Sir Keir has launched a consultation on banning under‑16s from social media and promised to crack down on the addictive elements of the apps. Baroness Kidron said many of the proposals had already been put forward in the House of Lords and could be accepted by the government as soon as next week.

Baroness Kidron’s perspective

The crossbench peer, a former award‑winning film director, has become a leading voice in Parliament on online safety. In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson, she said successive governments had pushed back on proposals that would have stopped AI chatbots being used to create sexualised images.

When asked what she would tell Sir Keir, Baroness Kidron quoted Winston Churchill:

“The appeaser thinks that they feed the crocodile in the hope they’ll be eaten last.”

She accused the PM of “rubbing up against the tech bros”, adding: “We’re giving away our kids to Silicon Valley to please Trump.”

Prime Minister’s remarks

In a recent article, Sir Keir said he wanted to “crack down on the addictive elements of social media” that “keep our children hooked on their screens for hours”. He added:

“And if that means a fight with the big social media companies, then bring it on.”

Official spokesperson response

“We are clear: when it comes to children’s safety, nothing is off the table, and no company is too big to face the consequences. Just weeks ago, we called out abhorrent non‑consensual intimate images being shared on Grok, which led to functionality being removed, and now ministers are legislating to make ‘nudification’ tools illegal and bringing additional chatbots within scope of the Online Safety Act.”

Baroness Kidron said it was “careless” of the prime minister to view the issue “through the lens of his own children”. She argued that personal experience does not make anyone an expert on broader child‑safety concerns.

Debate over an under‑16 ban

Opponents of an under‑16 ban argue it could push children to other parts of the internet and would fail to improve safety. Baroness Kidron told Robinson that such a ban is “not a silver bullet”.

“My own personal view is that we are in a digital world, we have an AI future, and we can’t un‑invite the next generation. We have to let them participate in that. But I do think that access for children should be conditional—conditional on respecting their rights, keeping them safe, not addicting them, and not extracting economic value from their behaviour.”

Listen to the interview

You can listen to the full interview with Baroness Kidron on BBC Radio 4 at 17:30 GMT on Saturday on BBC Sounds.