UK Liberal Democrats propose levy on tech giants — The Guardian
The Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom are proposing a special levy on major technology companies and artificial intelligence firms to fund a new Online Crime Agency. The structure’s annual budget is expected to be £250 million, The Guardian reports.
New agency
The initiative is to be presented at the party conference in Brighton by Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson. The proposed Online Crime Agency will focus on offences involving child sexual abuse material, illegal drug and weapons trafficking, as well as pornographic images created using AI and deepfake technology.
The party called the future payment an “online crime levy”. Under the Liberal Democrats’ plan, large technology and AI companies would fund the work of the new agency. Wilkinson plans to say that it is time for companies to “bear the costs” of crimes they have, in his words, facilitated.
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Other party proposals
On Sunday, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also proposed cutting fuel duty by 10 pence per litre for three months. Among other cost-of-living measures, he cited reducing the bus fare cap from £3 to £1.
As the publication writes, the party is seeking to define its political programme more clearly. A More in Common poll presented at the conference showed that 39% of voters have an idea of what the Liberal Democrats stand for. This is lower than for other major parties, including Restore Britain, which was created in February and has one member of parliament, while the Liberal Democrats have 71.
According to the study, 16% of respondents had heard about the Liberal Democrats in recent months, compared with 66% for the Reform party. The Liberal Democrats’ national rating, according to the data cited in the article, remains at about 12%.
