Tech Dependencies Undermine UK National Security

3 Feb 2026 11:53 AM

While the UK focuses on hybrid threats, is it being undermined by dependencies on US providers? Can the UK have a national security agenda in isolation?

In January, public outcry developed in the UK over X’s chatbot – Grok – and its ability to generate explicit and non-consensual images of people. The UK government ultimately succeeded in pressuring X into implementing a localised geoblock on the generation of deepfake sexual images via its platform, which are illegal to share in the UK. But this small victory was accompanied by a concerning wave of allegations and hostile rhetoric from the US, with Elon Musk accusing the UK regulator, Ofcom, of suppressing free speech and a Republican congresswoman threatening sanctions and tariffs should the UK block access to the platform.

This is not an isolated incident. Also in January, Italy announced a €14.2 million fine against the US-based internet infrastructure provider, Cloudflare, for non-compliance with the country’s anti-piracy laws. Cloudflare’s CEO, in response, defended his company’s position not only by highlighting the need to prevent latency and poor resolution on Cloudflare’s domain name service (DNS), but to resist attempts to 'censor' online content. This is not the first time Cloudflare’s role in promoting online safety has been questioned, as debates over its response to extremist content hosted on 8chan in 2019 show.

Nevertheless, these incidents appear both more salient and geopolitically charged in light of the growing rift between US companies and foreign governments on the legality of state intervention in online moderation. While in recent years the UK and Europe have introduced new laws intended to enhance state powers to mitigate online threats to safety and security – including through increased moderation of social media platforms – the Trump administration has presented this agenda as ‘censorship’, while increasing diplomatic pressure against its key architects.

In this heavily politicised climate, the UK and Europe can no longer bet on the consistent cooperation of US-based platform and internet services companies to implement national laws promoting online safety and national security. Amongst other threats, this poses serious problems for the UK’s ability to disrupt foreign influence campaigns online, an area which has typically relied on platform cooperation and social media ‘takedowns’.

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