US officials had seized upon the measures in the Online Safety Act to illustrate alleged curbs to free speech from Sir Keir Starmer’s government. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The British government has backed down on plans to force Apple to share encrypted user data, according to President Trump’s intelligence chief.

Tulsi Gabbard told the Financial Times that the government has agreed to abandon its demands for a “back door” for data.

US vice-president JD Vance reportedly intervened to broker the exemption for the tech giant, which faced an official order under the Investigatory Powers Act to give the UK access to iCloud user data.

A US official told the FT: “The vice-president negotiated a mutually beneficial understanding that the UK government will withdraw the current

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