Starmer'appeasing' big tech firms, says online safety campaigner A leading campaigner has accused the prime minister of appeasing big tech companies and being late to the party in regulating social media and artificial intelligence. Crossbench peer Baroness Kidron told the BBC Sir Keir Starmer needed to get on with it rather than launching more consultations. She also criticised the PM for citing his own experience as a father of two teenage children on social media, arguing that this did not make him an expert on the subject and that his family were sheltered compared to others. 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 crackdown on the addictive elements of the apps.

The UK's world-leading creative industries have been given a fresh boost in their fight to stop Big Tech companies'stealing' their work. US-based computer services and cyber security firm Cloudflare has introduced a tool which blocks Silicon Valley giants from mining creative works for free. Titans of entertainment, including Sir Elton John, Lord Lloyd-Webber and Dua Lipa, have been locked in a battle with ministers as artists demand better protection from the bots. The Government last month defeated an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill by Baroness Kidron, director of Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, after weeks of ping-pong between the Commons and the crossbench peer's growing number of supporters in the Lords. But Cloudflare's latest innovation will give publishers and website owners greater control over their intellectual property, allowing them to choose whether they want AI companies to access their content.

Not everyone agrees with the artists' approach. Julia Willemyns, co-founder of the Centre for British Progress think tank, said such proposals could hamper the UK and its bid for growth. The measures would "do nothing to stop foreign firms from using content from the British creative industries," she told the BBC. These tools, which can produce new content in response to simple text prompts, have become increasingly popular and available to consumers. But their capabilities have been accompanied by concerns and criticism over their data use and energy demand.