www.bmmagazine.co.uk/news/tech-bosses-could-face-criminal-proceedings-if-they-fail-to-protect-users/?amp
Tech bosses could face criminal proceedings if they fail to protect users
Under the plans, Ofcom will draw up legally enforceable codes of practice that spell out what tech companies need to do to protect users from harmful content. They will cover terrorism, child abuse, illegal drug or weapon sales, cyberbullying, self-harm, harassment, disinformation, violence and pornography. Fines for those that breach the codes could be linked to annual turnover or the volume of illegal material online.
Theresa May’s government held a consultation in the summer on proposals to regulate social media companies. Her weak political position and the lack of parliamentary time because of Brexit meant that legislation was never drawn up.
Boris Johnson put forward new duty-of-care laws in the Conservative manifesto. “We will legislate to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online — protecting children from online abuse and harms, protecting the most vulnerable from accessing harmful content, and ensuring there is no safe space for terrorists to hide online,” the document said.
In the Queen’s Speech this month the government pledged to “develop” legislation in response to the consultation, to which there were more than 2,000 submissions. Voluntary codes of practice will be published before the legislation, in an attempt to curb the use of the internet by terrorists and paedophiles. “This will ensure companies take action now to tackle content that threatens our national security and the physical safety of children,” ministers said.
When the consultation on regulating social media companies was published in the summer there were concerns that it could lead to regulation of the press by the back door. The Tories then made a manifesto commitment to “defending freedom of expression and in particular recognising and defending the invaluable role of the free press”.
Nicky Morgan, who stood down as an MP at the election, was reappointed as culture secretary after being given a peerage by the prime minister. She has backed the principle of a duty of care and said at the Tory conference that she would support a regulatory regime like that imposed on the financial sector.
I would suggest that MN users should consider this, in the context of people like Lang getting banned, and pester Nicky Morgan about how women in particular can be protected and how MN can manage the implications this involves since they don't have the mega revenues that Facebook and Twitter can generate...