Controversial UK legislation that brings in a new regime of content moderation rules for online platforms and services -- establishing the comms watchdog Controversial UK legislation that brings in a new regime of content moderation rules for online platforms and services has been passed by parliament today, paving the way for Royal Assent and the Online Safety Bill becoming law in the coming days.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The proposed legislation continued swelling in scope as a grab-bag of additional duties and requirements got bolted on in response to a smorgasbord of safety concerns reaching policymakers’ ears, whether related to trolling, scam ads, deepfake porn or (most recently) animal cruelty.
Another major strand of controversy is focused on the potential impact on web security and privacy as the bill hands sweeping powers to Ofcom to require platforms to scan message content for illegal material.
In the event, the government appears to have steered out of a direct clash with mainstream messaging services like WhatsApp by fudging the encryption issue with a carefully worded ministerial statement earlier this month.
Additionally, there is concern the bill will lead to a mass age-gating of the UK internet as web services seek to shrink their liability by forcing users to confirm they are old enough to view content that might be deemed inappropriate for minors.
Balancing the demands of child safety campaigners for a totally safe Internet and the concerns of digital, civil liberties and human rights groups that the legislation does not trample on hard won democratic freedoms will now be Ofcom’s problem.
In a brief statement the UK’s new web content sheriff gave no hint of the complex challenges that lie ahead — merely welcoming the bill’s passage through parliament and stating that it stands ready to implement the new rulebook.
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