The British watchdog Ofcom is set to gain the power to block access to online services that fail to do enough to protect children and other users.
The UK regulator would be able to fine Facebook and other tech giants billions of pounds and require them to publish an audit of efforts to tackle posts that are harmful but not illegal.
HM’s government is to include the measures in its Online Harms Bill, the proposed law would not introduce criminal prosecutions, however, nor would it target online scams and other types of internet fraud.
This news is likely to disappoint campaigners, who had been calling for the inclusion of both.
The law will allow Ofcom to demand tech firms take action against child abuse imagery shared via encrypted messages, even if the apps in question are designed to stop their makers from being able to peer within.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden is due to address the House of Commons on Tuesday, with his department also set what is expected for companies to do to tackle online child abuse and terrorist activity before the new laws are passed.
Mr Dowden will make a commitment to bring the bill before parliament in 2021, but it might not be 2022 or later before it comes into force.
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, said there were signs that new laws would have “teeth”, including strong sanctions for companies found to be in breach of their duties.
“However, much will rest on the detail behind these announcements, which we will be looking at closely,” she added.
The TechUK trade association said “significant clarity” was needed about how the proposals would work in practice – they added that the “prospect of harsh sanctions” risked discouraging investment in the sector.
Under the proposals, Ofcom would be able to fine companies up to 10% of their annual global turnover or £18m – whichever is greater – if they refused to remove illegal content and/or potentially failed to satisfy its concerns about posts that were legal but still harmful.
In theory, it could fine Instagram’s parent company Facebook $7.1bn and YouTube’s owner Google $16.1bn based on their most recent earnings.
In addition, Ofcom could compel internet service providers to block devices from connecting to offending services.
HM’s government claims the new rules will set “the global standard” for online safety.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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