LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers have authorised an formidable however controversial new web security legislation with wide-ranging powers to crack down on digital and social media firms like TikTok, Google, and Fb and Instagram mum or dad Meta.
The federal government says the on-line security invoice handed this week will make Britain the most secure place on the earth to be on-line. However digital rights teams say it threatens on-line privateness and freedom of speech.
The brand new legislation is the U.Okay.’s contribution to efforts in Europe and elsewhere to clamp down on the freewheeling tech trade dominated by U.S. firms. The European Union has its Digital Providers Act, which took impact final month with comparable provisions geared toward cleansing up social media for customers within the 27-nation bloc.
Right here’s a more in-depth have a look at Britain’s legislation:
WHAT IS THE ONLINE SAFETY LAW?
The sprawling piece of laws has been within the works since 2021.
The brand new legislation requires social media platforms to take down unlawful content material, together with youngster sexual abuse, hate speech and terrorism, revenge porn and posts selling self-harm. Additionally they must cease such content material from showing within the first place and provides customers extra controls, together with blocking nameless trolls.
The federal government says the legislation takes a “zero tolerance” strategy to defending children by making platforms legally liable for their on-line security. Platforms can be required to cease kids from accessing content material that, whereas not unlawful, may very well be dangerous or not age-appropriate, together with porn, bullying or, for instance, glorifying consuming problems or offering directions for suicide.
Social media platforms can be legally required to confirm that customers are sufficiently old, sometimes 13, and porn web sites must be sure that customers are 18.
The invoice criminalizes some on-line exercise, corresponding to cyberflashing, which is sending somebody undesirable specific photos.
WHAT IF BIG TECH DOESN’T COMPLY?
The legislation applies to any web firm, irrespective of the place it’s based mostly so long as a U.Okay. person can entry its companies. Corporations that don’t fall in line face fines of as much as 18 million kilos ($22 million) or 10% of annual international gross sales, whichever is bigger.
Senior managers at tech firms additionally face felony prosecution and jail time in the event that they fail to reply data requests from U.Okay. regulators. They’ll even be held criminally liable if their firm fails to adjust to regulators’ notices about youngster intercourse abuse and exploitation.
Ofcom, the U.Okay. communications regulator, will implement the legislation. It’s going to focus first on unlawful content material as the federal government takes a “phased strategy” to deliver it into power.
Past that, it’s unclear how the legislation can be enforced as a result of particulars haven’t been supplied.
WHAT DO CRITICS SAY?
Digital rights teams say the legislation’s provisions threaten to undermine on-line freedoms.
The U.Okay.-based Open Rights Group and the Digital Frontier Basis within the U.S. mentioned that if tech firms have to make sure content material will not be dangerous for kids, they may find yourself being pressured to decide on between sanitizing their platforms or making customers confirm their ages by importing official ID or utilizing privacy-intrusive face scans to estimate how outdated they’re.
The legislation additionally units up a conflict between the British authorities and tech firms over encryption know-how. It provides regulators the facility to require encrypted messaging companies to put in “accredited know-how” to scan encrypted messages for terrorist or youngster intercourse abuse content material.
Specialists say that would supply a backdoor for personal communications that finally ends up making everybody much less secure.
Meta mentioned final month that it plans to begin including end-to-end encryption to all Messenger chats by default by the tip of yr. However the U.Okay. authorities referred to as on the corporate not to take action with out measures to guard kids from intercourse abuse and exploitation.