The UK government has unveiled proposed legislation which includes tougher and quicker criminal penalties for tech bosses and new criminal offences for falsifying and destroying data.
Ministers from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, claim the Online Safety Bill is a World first.
At the core of the proposed legislation is a dedicated framework to control how social media companies and other content-focused platforms must respond to certain types of problematic content which will include a regime of Codes of Practice.
These codes will be overseen by the media and communications regulator, Ofcom, which will be given additional powers to fine rule-breakers up to 10 per cent of their global annual turnover.
The Bill has a broad context and does not just focus on illegal acts. It aims to set rules for how the largest internet platforms need to approach “legal but harmful” online content, such as trolling.
Secretary of State Nadine Dorries said: “The internet has transformed our lives for the better. It’s connected us and empowered us. But on the other side, tech firms haven’t been held to account when harm, abuse and criminal behaviour have run riot on their platforms. Instead, they have been left to mark their own homework.
“We don’t give it a second’s thought when we buckle our seat belts to protect ourselves when driving. Given all the risks online, it’s only sensible we ensure similar basic protections for the digital age. If we fail to act, we risk sacrificing the well-being and innocence of countless generations of children to the power of unchecked algorithms.
“Since taking on the job I have listened to people in politics, wider society and industry and strengthened the bill, so that we can achieve our central aim: to make the U.K. the safest place to go online.”
Ministers are also stressing that they are taking action to protect children from online harm. A government news release states: “The Online Safety Bill marks a milestone in the fight for a new digital age which is safer for users and holds tech giants to account. It will protect children from harmful content such as pornography and limit people’s exposure to illegal content, while protecting freedom of speech.
It will require social media platforms, search engines and other apps and websites allowing people to post their own content to protect children, tackle illegal activity and uphold their stated terms and conditions.”
The Bill will strengthen people’s rights to express themselves freely online and ensure social media companies are not removing legal free speech. For the first time, users will have the right to appeal if they feel their post has been taken down unfairly.
It will also put requirements on social media firms to protect journalism and democratic political debate on their platforms. News content will be completely exempt from any regulation under the Bill.
Ministers will also continue to consider how to ensure platforms do not remove content from recognised media outlets.
The Online Safety Bill was first introduced to Parliament in May 2021. Changes since then include: Changes since the draft Bill include:
- Bringing paid-for scam adverts on social media and search engines into scope in a move to combat online fraud.
- Making sure websites which publish or host pornography put robust checks in place to ensure users are 18 years old or over.
- Measures to clampdown on trolling, giving people more control over who can contact them and what they see online.
- Making companies proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content and criminal activity quicker.
- Criminalising cyberflashing.
Reaction to the Bill has proved to be mixed. Some freedom of speech proponents worry that social media companies could react by taking down far more posts, just to ensure they remain safe.
Others worry it doesn’t go far enough and ask why news content is exempt, but news industry chiefs are concerned that while the existing Bill places no obligation on platforms to censor news organisations, there was also ‘no compulsion’ for them not to.
