The Online Safety Bill also seeks to strengthen the right to
freedom of expression, and ensure democratic political debate and journalistic
content is protected, the government said.
"It’s time for tech companies to be held to account and
to protect the British people from harm. If they fail to do so, they will face
penalties," interior minister Priti Patel said.
Tech firms have been accused of doing far too little to
address online abuse, with soccer clubs and other sporting authorities
boycotting the world's biggest social media platforms last month to highlight
the growing problem.
The bill will place a duty of care on social media firms and
websites to ensure they take swift action to remove illegal content, such as
hate crimes, harassment and threats directed at individuals, including abuse
which falls below the criminal threshold.
There will also be a requirement to remove and limit the
spread of terrorist material, suicide content and child sexual abuse, which
they would need to report to the authorities.
Those companies which fail to do so face hefty fines from
regulator Ofcom which can also block access to their sites.
"The draft Bill contains reserved powers for Ofcom to
pursue criminal action against named senior managers whose companies do not
comply with Ofcom’s requests for information," the government said.
"These will be introduced if tech companies fail to live up to their new
responsibilities."
The proposed law will also require companies to safeguard
freedom of expression, and reinstate material unfairly removed.
It will also forbid tech firms from discriminating against
particular political viewpoints, and Ofcom will hold them to account for the
arbitrary removal of journalistic content, the government added. Reuters
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