Upcoming powers in legislation regulating online spaces will force Big Tech companies to give bereaved parents as well as coroners the content of their dead children’s accounts, according to the UK government. The government wants to add an amendment to the Online Safety Bill which will help to access information held by tech companies that…
Internet Trolls Who Encourage Serious Self-Harm Face 5 Years in Jail
Internet users who encourage self-harm could be jailed for up to five years, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said. Additions to the Online Safety Bill will make it a crime to encourage someone to cause serious self-harm, regardless of whether or not victims go on to injure themselves. The offence will add to existing…
Social Media Bosses Who Fail to Remove Misogynistic Content Should Face Jail, Say Peers
Bosses of social media companies could be jailed if they fail to remove “misogynistic” content, under an amendment to the Online Safety Bill. The amendment—backed by a cross-party group of lords led by former Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan—would mean companies that fail to remove abusive misogynistic content and ban repeat offenders would face fines, while…
Online Age ID Needed to Shield Teens From Violent Pornography: Children’s Commissioner
Violent pornography has a strong influence on children who go on to commit sexual abuse, according to a new report from the Children’s Commissioner, who is calling for age verification as an “urgent priority” in upcoming legislation. A report released on Tuesday by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, found that acts of…
Encrypted Message Platforms Threaten to Pull Services From UK Over Online Safety Bill
Seven of the world’s leading messaging apps have written a scathing open letter to the UK government over its proposed Online Safety Bill. Bosses from firms including Signal and WhatsApp say the bill would lead to the mass surveillance of personal communications in what would become the “British internet.” Urging ministers to “urgently rethink” the…
Social Media Bosses Who Ignore Rules Aimed at Protecting Children Face Jail Under the Online Safety Bill
The British Culture Secretary has confirmed plans under new online safety laws that will make tech executives and managers criminally liable for children’s duty of care failures. Last week, Conservative MPs backed an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that would introduce powers to jail tech bosses. Former cabinet ministers, including ex-home secretary Priti Patel…
Social Media Bosses Could Face Jail If They Breach Rules on Children Under UK’s Online Safety Bill
Tory MPs are planning an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that would make tech executives criminally liable for children’s duty of care failures. Conservative MP Miriam Cates and other MPs including Sir William Cash, Andrea Leadsom, Julian Lewis, Lia Nici, Tim Loughton, Lee Anderson, and former Home Secretary Priti Patel are backing an amendment (pdf)…
British Government Replaces Online Safety Bill’s ‘Legal but Harmful’ Duties
The UK government has watered down powers in its legislation regulating online spaces but some free speech advocates still fear the bill is a “censor’s charter.” On Tuesday, the government announced that “legal but harmful” duties are being replaced in the Online Safety Bill, with culture secretary Michelle Donelan saying they would have “stifled” free speech….
Encouraging Self-Harm Online Will Become Criminal Offence Under UK’s Online Safety Bill
Online encouragement of self-harm will be criminalised under an updated version of the Online Safety Bill, the UK government has said. Culture secretary Michelle Donelan said the update would create a new offence that would target communications that encourage someone to physically harm themselves, making it illegal to do so, and bringing it in line…
New Amendment to Online Safety Bill Will Criminalise ‘Deepfake’ Pornography
Sharing “downblouse” images and pornographic “deepfakes” without consent could be criminalised in England and Wales. On Friday, the government announced that it will put forward an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, which would criminalise the sharing of a person’s intimate images without their consent. This includes those who share “deepfakes,” or explicit images or…
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