Social media companies will be charged $24M if they do not act on illegal content. The U.K. government has proposed that Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) should pay the fine or ten percent or annual global turnover if they do not limit the spread of illegal content.
The government plans to have an Online Safety Bill next year. It will bring up laws about removing and limiting the spread of the said content, as the country aims to stop child sexual abuse and terrorist material from going around the top tech companies.
To safeguard people's rights
The main objective of the laws is to safeguard the rights of the people online. Apart from that, it also wants adult users to be safe while stopping companies from arbitrarily removing the content. In a statement, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport noted how it could help.
It stated that the laws would defend freedom of expression. It also said that it aims to defend the invaluable role of a free press. At the same time, the laws would be building trust in technology businesses to drive a new wave of digital growth.
As the confirmed regulator, Ofcom has the power to fine companies that are failing to care for people. It could block any non-compliant services, so people in the U.K. could not access them.
Everything will be covered
All social media, instant messaging, and video sharing platforms will be impacted by the rules. Dating apps, online forums, and commercial pornography websites will also be affected; peer-to-peer services, online marketplaces, video games, and consumer cloud storage sites are not exempted, too.
According to the department, the most popular sites, such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, would need to "go further." There needs to be an enforcement of clearer terms and conditions to explain how they would handle content that could harm adults physically or psychologically.
The government noted that it would help bridge the gap between what companies say and do. Criminal sanctions on senior managers are also included in the legislation provisions. It said that it would force the powers to companies that would not take the new rules seriously.
Robust rules to follow
Oliver Dowden, Digital secretary, said that the proposed framework would not burden small business owners. He noted that it would give robust rules of the road for large digital business to follow, so people could make good use of modern technology to improve their lives.
Earlier in the year, the member of the House of Lords, Lord David Puttnam, explained that the bill may not take effect until 2023 or 2024. He stated that after hearing the government minister said it could not commit to bringing the law by 2021.
A story of a teen who killed himself in 2017 due to self-harm had unveiled the bill in 2019. The government is also looking if promoting self-harm should also be made illegal. The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority has issued advice to the UK government last week about a new regime for digital markets.
It would help proactively shape the most powerful tech firms' behavior. Among them are Facebook and Google (GOOG).
