The UK's Liberal Democrats have announced plans to introduce a levy on large technology and artificial intelligence companies to fund a new £250m-a-year Online Crime Agency, targeting offences such as child sexual abuse material, drug and weapons trafficking, and AI-generated deepfake pornography. The proposal, unveiled at the party's conference in Brighton by home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson, argues that big tech firms should "pick up the bill" for crimes their platforms have enabled. The announcement comes as the party — which won its best election result in a century in 2024 but remains static at around 12% in national polls — faces concern that voters have little clear sense of what it stands for, with research showing just 39% of the public feel they know the party's positions.