The government has finally signed into law the much-delayed Online Safety Bill, which imposes strict requirements on social media firms to regulate their platforms.
The Bill will supposedly make the UK “the safest place in the world to be online” by ensuring that online companies do not subject their users to racism, sexual abuse, bullying, fraud and other harmful material often found on the internet.
In its original form, the bill gave regulators wide-ranging powers to sanction digital and social media companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. However, it has been significantly watered down in revisions over the past year.
Technology secretary Michelle Donelan said: “The Online Safety Bill is a game-changing piece of legislation. Today, this government is taking an enormous step forward in our mission to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.
“Our common-sense approach will deliver a better future for British people, by making sure that what is illegal offline is illegal online. It puts protecting children first, enabling us to catch keyboard criminals and crack down on the heinous crimes they seek to commit.”
During its lengthy passage through the Commons, the Bill had faced widespread criticism over plans to weaken encryption. Nearly 70 IT security and privacy academics wrote an open letter in July over plans to enable the routine monitoring of personal, business and civil society online communications by government agencies.
WhatsApp even said it would rather be blocked in the UK entirely than undermine its encrypted messaging system.
However, at a recent reading of the Bill in the House of Lords, Conservative peer Stephen Parkinson admitted that Ofcom would only be able to intervene if scanning encrypted message content was deemed “technically feasible” – which it currently is not.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has imposed a raft of new rules on social media platforms who will now be expected to:
- Remove illegal content quickly or prevent it from appearing in the first place
- Prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content
- Enforce age limits and age-checking measures
- Ensure the risks and dangers posed to children on the largest social media platforms are more transparent
- Provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise
If social media platforms do not comply with these rules, Ofcom could fine them up to £18m or 10 per cent of their global annual revenue, whichever is largest. In addition, tech executives could personally face criminal charges if their platforms consistently fail to protect children.
NSPCC chief executive Sir Peter Wanless said: “We are absolutely delighted to see the Online Safety Bill being passed through Parliament. It is a momentous day for children and will finally result in the ground-breaking protections they should expect online.
“At the NSPCC, we hear from children about the completely unacceptable levels of abuse and harm they face online every day. That’s why we have campaigned strongly for change alongside brave survivors, families, young people and parliamentarians to ensure the legislation results in a much safer online world for children.”
