President Trump urged Keir Starmer not to censor his social media platform as they faced journalists at his Trump-Turnberry golf course in Scotland.
The US President was asked by GB News’s Bev Turner whether he is concerned about new powers available to the Labour Government that could see limits imposed on Truth Social.
She asked: “Mr President, you have a successful social media site. There are new powers here to censor your site and Twitter and Facebook. Is that okay?”
Trump said “I don’t think he’s going to censor my site” before jokingly asking the Prime Minister “will you please uncensor my site?”
GB NEWS
|Keir Starmer insisted he has no plans to censor Trump's website
Starmer was quick to stress he has no plans to water down Truth Social and said measures are in place to protect young children.
“We’re not censoring anyone. We have some measures there to protect children, in particular from sites like suicide sites”, he said.
“We’ve had too many cases in the United Kingdom of young children taking their own lives and when you look through their social media, they had been accessing sites that talk about suicide and encouraging children down that road.
“We’re very proud of free speech in this country and we will protect it forever, but at the same time, I strongly feel we should protect our young teenagers from suicide sites.
POOL
|Donald Trump told Starmer not to censor his Truth Social platform
“I don’t see that as a free speech issue, I see it as a child protection issue.”
Trump drew parallels with a bill passed in Congress that his wife, Melania, spearheaded.
The ‘Take It Down’ act was signed into law in May and criminalises posting ‘intimate images’, real or AI-generated, online without an individual’s consent and requires technology companies to remove the content within 48 hours.
The President told Bev protecting children online is a “problem” before speaking about his own social media platform once more.
TUCKER CARLSON NETWORK | JD Vance has spoken negatively of the Labour party in the past
“I cannot imagine him [Starmer] censoring Truth Social. I only say good things about him and his country so if you censor me, you’re making a mistake.”
The remark prompted laughter from the Prime Minister as the pair put on a warm display in front of the press.
The Trump administration harbour concerns about the future of free speech in Britain with Vice President JD Vance said to be keen for the UK to repeal hate speech laws and ditch plans for a new online safety law.
He has previously suggested that free speech is being undermined by laws banning hateful comments.