Tech bosses face prison sentences under new Online Safety Bill
The internet has fundamentally changed the world as we know it. But the speed we have moved our lives online has far outpaced legislation change. Currently there is very little in the way of legislation which can protect people from harm online.
The harm caused by online platforms has been well-documented in recent years. Particularly in regard to children and young people.
Following the publication of the Online Harms Whitepaper back in 2019, UK Government committed to introducing a new regulatory framework to safeguard online spaces. The new Online Safety Bill is the culmination of nearly 4 years of work since then.
Current Legislation
Under current rules, most online platforms are not subject to any safeguarding regulations at all. The exceptions to this are platforms which the Government define as Video Sharing Platforms (VSPs), such as TikTok.
VSPs are regulated by the VSP Regime which was introduced in 2020 as an addition to the Communications Act 2003. These rules state that VSPs must:
Protect the public from videos and adverts likely to incite violence or hatred against a person on specified grounds including sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political opinion, membership of a national minority, disability, age and sexual orientation.
Protect the public from material in videos or adverts where the inclusion of that material would be a criminal offence under laws relating to terrorism, child sexual abuse material, and racism and xenophobia.
Protect under 18s from videos and adverts which have or would be likely to be given an R18 certificate,3 or which have been or would likely be refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Classification.
Protect under 18s from videos and adverts containing material that might impair their physical, mental or moral development.
Failure to adhere to these rules means Ofcom can impose financial penalties of up to £250,000 or 5% of qualifying revenue, whichever is greater.
While this is clearly important legislation, it only covers VSPs. This is why the new Online Safety Bill is such an important step forward.
The Online Safety Bill
The Online Safety Bill’s full title is:
“A Bill to make provision for and in connection with the regulation by Ofcom of certain internet services; for and in connection with communications offences; and for connected purposes.”
As the title suggests, a large part of the Online Safety Bill is about giving Ofcom the powers to enforce the suggested regulatory framework. They will be the ‘Authority’ in charge of enforcing the new legislation when it receives Royal Assent.
The Bill focuses on 6 key areas. Under the proposed framework, online platform providers must:
Assess their user base and the risks of harm to those users present on the service.
Take steps to mitigate and manage the risks of harm to individuals arising from illegal content and activity, and (for services likely to be accessed by children) content and activity that is harmful to children. Changes were made in the House of Commons to the illegal content duties meaning that companies will now need to assess the risk of their services being used for the commission or facilitation of a priority offence and to design and operate their services to mitigate this risk.
Put in place systems and processes which allow users and affected persons to report specified types of content and activity to the service provider.
Establish a transparent and easy to use complaints procedure which allows for complaints of specified types to be made.
Have particular regard to the importance of protecting users’ legal rights to freedom of expression and protecting users from a breach of a legal right to privacy when implementing safety policies and procedures.
Put in place systems and processes designed to ensure that detected but unreported CSEA content is reported to the NCA.
There is definitely an incentive for tech leaders to take heed of these new rules. The proposed legislation states that Ofcom can “impose financial penalties of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater”.
If we take Google as an example, they had worldwide revenue of $69.1 billion in 2022. If they breached these rules, they could be liable for a fine well into the billions.
On top of this, persistent failures to adhere to these rules can land tech bosses with custodial sentences. Bosses face up to 2 years in prison for repeated breaches of the new rules.
When are the new rules coming?
The Bill is currently going through its second reading in the House of Lords. With broad cross-party support for the new legislation, it should progress quickly. However, the Bill has been plagued with delays, thanks to Tory infighting and 4 successive PM changes.
The delays means that if the Bill is not passed by April 2023, it will need to be scrapped. Supporters will then need to reintroduce the Bill in a new Parliament.