Update on Laws

The new online safety bill in the UK is based on three fundamental duties: protecting children, shielding the public from illegal content and helping adult users avoid harmful -but not illegal- content on the biggest platforms.

- Ofcom is beginning to do more regulation on social media 

1. Primary priority content:

Porn and the promotion of suicide and eating disorders. If sites allow such content, children must be prevented from encountering it and age checks are put in place.

2. Priority content 

Bullying or posts that encourage children to take part in dangerous stunts or challenges. Children in age groups dubbed to be at harm from such content must be protected from encountering this kind of material. Ofcom will set out the steps for doing this in a code of practice that it will draw up. 

The Molly Rose foundation is a charity formed after Molly took her own life. Online she viewed thousands of images promoting suicide and self-harm, her father began the campaign to remove that harmful content from social media.  

Illegal Content

Primary offences include: child sexual abuse material, terrorist content, revenge or extreme pornography and threats to kill. The act wants this sort of content to be proactively targeted by platforms' moderation systems and processes. 

Protecting adults from harmful content 

This includes material related to suicide, self harm and abuse targeted at protected characteristics under the equality act (such as age, race etc). Platforms will need to offer features that allow users to avoid abuse for example. This could be a warning screen or an option to consent to someone following you.

Pornographic Content 

Sites that include any pornographic content will now require age verification, which will include taking a selfie and providing formal identification which matches up with face identifying technology. Ofcom will provide guidance on what are the most effective form of age verification or age restriction. 

Cyber Flashing and the taking and sharing of explicit images 

Sending an unsolicited explicit or nude is now illegal act. It is also illegal to share an explicit image that you have been sent or you have taken. This includes revenge porn, deep fakes, up-skirting and down blouses. 

In order to combat child sexual abuse material, ofcom have been empowered to order a messaging service to use technology to look for and take down certain content. Privacy engineers and tech firms have been warned that the clause poses a fundamental threat to end encrypted messaging- where only the sender and recipient can read the message. 

Tech executives- Criminal Liability 

Tech executives face the threat of a two year jail sentence if they persistently ignore ofcom enforcement notices telling them they have breached their duty of care to children. In terms of punishments for companies, Ofcom can fine impose fines of 10% of a companies global tumours for breeches of the act.