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Executives at companies like Meta, Google, Twitter and TikTok could face jail sooner than anticipated if they don’t cooperate with the UK’s internet regulator, Ofcom.
The UK government on Wednesday announced that executives could face prosecution or jail within two months of the new Online Safety Bill becoming law, instead of the two years it was drafted. before.
The Online Safety Bill will be presented to lawmakers in Congress on Thursday and could become law later this year.
It aims to make it mandatory for social media services, search engines, and other platforms that allow people to share their own content to protect children, tackle illegal activity. legally and maintain their stated terms and conditions.
The government said on Wednesday that a new set of charges had been added to the bill that would make senior managers of tech companies criminally liable for destroying evidence, failing to attend or providing provided false information in interviews with Ofcom and hindered the watchdog from getting in on it. company office.
FacebookInstagram, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok have both been criticized for allowing harmful content to be shared on their platforms. They say they are doing their best to get rid of it, but many lawmakers are not satisfied.
“Tech companies cannot be held accountable when harmful, abusive and criminal behavior riots on their platforms,” UK Digital Minister Nadine Dorries said in a statement. “Instead, they were left to mark their own homework.”
Dorries said the internet needs protections no different than wearing a seat belt in a car.
“Given all the risks online, it just makes sense for us to ensure the same basic safeguards for the digital age,” Dorries said. “If we don’t act, we risk sacrificing the welfare and innocence of countless generations of children to the power of unbridled algorithms.”
In addition to the ability to prosecute tech executives, Ofcom will also have the power to fine companies up to 10% of their annual global revenue if they don’t comply with the rules. To put that into context, Meta could be fined up to $10 billion based on its 2021 revenue figures.
New proposals include
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Bureau agreed to adopt 66 recommendations to the Online Safety Bill put forward by a joint committee last year. The recommendations include making online platforms responsible for activities that include the promotion of self-harm online, extreme pornography and online flashing.
Damian Collins, chair of the joint committee on the draft Online Safety Law, believes the internet is something of a “Wild West” and hails the adoption of the recommendations as a “critical moment” for growth. safety of internet users worldwide.
“The Joint Committee on the Online Safety Bill has produced a clear list of recommendations since December on how to make the bill more robust, while also protecting privacy,” Collins said in a statement. of speech and freedom of the press”.
“I’m delighted to see that the Government has taken a lot of our recommendations into account, ensuring that we are truly making the UK the safest online place in the world. An era of self-regulation for Big Tech has finally come to an end.”
The bill must now go through a formal process that every bill must go through before it becomes a law. That includes giving UK lawmakers the chance to debate aspects of the law.
