BitChute CEO Ray Vahey has warned that the United Kingdom is on the path toward a “very dark future” as it embraces China-style internet censorship, blasting the government’s sweeping surveillance and censorship powers under the Online Safety Act.
Speaking during an interview on Ickonic, Vahey said, “I absolutely do think that I think we’re heading towards a system similar to what we’ve seen in China, which is the great firewall of China, if they don’t approve of something in their centralized government, then it doesn’t get through. No one has access to it.”
Vahey slammed the UK government’s efforts to target private messages for surveillance, warning that authorities “want to know everything about anything that’s happening on the internet” and are pushing for backdoors into encrypted communications.
“Very frightening, very, very scarily, they want to be able to police thought, they want to be able to say what is true, what isn’t true, they want to be the Ministry of Truth from 1984, basically,” Vahey said. “So I think this could be a very dark future. If we don’t stand up now.”
Vahey also criticized UK police forces for harassing citizens over their online posts, citing recent incidents involving Facebook and WhatsApp messages.
“There’s videos coming out about six coppers turning up to pensioners’ homes because they put something on Facebook that the government doesn’t like. I mean, this is crazy. This is a country that, you know, came up with the concept of free speech and pushed it out to most of the world. And now it’s one that those philosophers wouldn’t even recognize. It’s going completely the opposite way,” he said.
Vahey’s comments come as BitChute officially pulled out of the UK, citing the Online Safety Act’s overreach, increased censorship requirements, and burdensome compliance costs. He expressed hope that other platforms would follow BitChute’s lead to pressure the UK government into reversing course.
“If enough companies pull out, this will be exposed and they will have no choice but to reverse,” Vahey said.
He also warned that the Online Safety Act threatens small communities and independent sites, pointing to the closure of a small hamster forum as an example of how the law is “decimating” non-mainstream internet spaces.
Throughout the interview, Vahey reiterated BitChute’s commitment to protecting users’ privacy and free speech. “We fundamentally believe that everyone should have the right to free speech…it’s a human right, and it’s also important for holding those in power to account, so it was a red line for us. We’re not prepared to do that,” he said.
Vahey predicted that attempts to control online discourse would ultimately backfire on the UK government and legacy media, which he said are “very scared” as independent media grows and trust in traditional news outlets collapses.
“The government is scared as well, because they’ve got to, you know, find a way to get their propaganda out to the people that isn’t going to be as easy,” he said. “I think the best way to deal with bad information is always more information. That’s the only way that the truth has a chance of ever coming out.”
