Keir Starmer is giving tech companies three months to activate on-device content scanning and age verification across all smartphones and tablets sold in Britain – or face fines and potentially criminal liability. Framed as a child safety measure, the proposal has drawn fierce criticism from privacy advocates, civil liberties groups and free speech lawyers who warn it amounts to building a mass surveillance infrastructure under the pretext of safety. The messaging app Signal has already said it will not comply – will others follow? CapX Editor Marc Sidwell speaks with Preston Byrne, free speech lawyer and counsel to some of the internet's most controversial platforms, about what this proposal actually represents beneath the child-safety framing – and what it could mean for Britain’s tech sector.

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