The Online Safety Bill… Finally
After several years in the works, the UK government has finally pushed through a draft of their Online Safety Bill with the intention of adding some must-needed accountability for tech companies into law.
Of course we’re thrilled at the push to tackle the spread of child abuse material that is generated and hosted on social media sites, but this bill also focuses on other material like racial abuse and graphic content, which highlights just how dangerous the internet can be. Furthermore, in her recent speech, the Queen has made it clear that this bill is imperative to be pursued and brought into law.
In the bill, the danger of the internet from parents points of view is mentioned with only 55% of parents thinking the benefits of the internet outweigh the potential risks of children being online — a ten percent drop from 2019.
As you’d expect, there are the usual critics claiming violations in free speech, privacy infringements, and the very overdramatic claims this bill will be the end of democracy as we know it.
But if you think allowing child abuse material is okay as long as you can tweet your feelings about the change in the Jammy Dodger recipe, I just can’t take you seriously.
The idea that freedom of speech and the right to the internet will be destroyed by imposing legislation to protect children from being sexually abused online is ludicrous, especially when both the technology to stop CSAM and allow users their same privacy (if not more) already exists, and when huge sections of this online safety bill are dedicated to ensure there will be no unnecessary censorship.
“We will protect children on the internet, crack down on racist abuse on social media and through new measures to safeguard our liberties, create a truly democratic digital age.”
— Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden
The clear message this bill is trying to get across is that companies can’t get away with just turning a blind eye to what happens on their platforms. If children are going to use social media and the internet as a whole, it needs to become a safer place, and the tech companies that are hosting this content need to be part of the solution, not adding to the problem. Head of research at the Adam Smith Institute think tank, Matthew Lesh tweeted that the bill was “shaping up to be a totally incoherent train wreck” due to the pressure placed on companies to remove content, including what he believed is lawful speech. Sure, there is certainly pressure being put onto the tech giants to police their content, but until now they’ve just been able to look the other way and blame their users instead of taking responsibility for what they host. So while there will absolutely need to be some amendments to the draft bill, telling companies to clean up their platforms and, as said by Home Secretary Priti Patel “protect the British people from harm” or “face penalties” doesn’t really seem like a devolution into a police state with no free speech.
The higher of £18 million or 10% of annual turnover as a penalty for failing to provide a reasonable duty of care to users may seem high (or low depending on your view of big tech companies earning their money through selling user data), but the additional ability of Ofcom as a regulator to block access to sites in violation of this legislation and criminally prosecuting executives eventually may be the more serious methods to enforce online safety, but is it enough?
The immense resources of some of the larger tech companies could result in their “buying their way out of regulation.” Director of external engagement at 5Rights Foundation, Tony Stower had made his opinions of this bill very clear through a full report of amendments to the bill that will ensure the “whole generation of children who have been put at risk through lax regulation” come first, and the tech companies who have funneled millions into lobbying against increased regulations are not getting away with avoiding the change vulnerable individuals need. With numerous options out there to moderate content and help protect vulnerable users, it shouldn’t be hard for billion dollar tech companies to put in place solutions for online safety and usher us into a new era of safe browsing, but a simple fine may not be enough to push them to do the right thing. This draft bill is a step in the right direction to at the minimum showcase the darker side of using the internet, but ideally bringing online abuse violations in line with offline abuse laws, and giving regulators the ability to impose more than just a fine on companies that may not even notice it in their bottom line is crucial, and executives that are more concerned with profit than child abuse being featured on their platforms.
While not law yet, we are hopeful that the reliance on online solutions this past year and the unfortunate consequences of not having appropriate safety for children will help push this bill forward, and seal some of the loopholes that may allow the larger tech giants to avoid serious consequences. We need protection for children online in law, and we need it now.
No more excuses, #stopCSAM.
Click here to read the full 145 page draft (and accompanying explanatory notes and impact assessment).
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