The government says the online safety bill passed this week will make Britain the safest place in the world to be online. But digital rights groups say it threatens online privacy and freedom of speech.
The government says the law takes a “zero tolerance” approach to protecting kids by making platforms legally responsible for their online safety. Platforms will be required to stop children from accessing content that, while not illegal, could be harmful or not age-appropriate, including porn, bullying or, for example, glorifying eating disorders or providing instructions for suicide.
The law applies to any internet company, no matter where it’s based as long as a U.K. user can access its services. Companies that don’t fall in line face fines of up to 18 million pounds or 10% of annual global sales, whichever is greater. The U.K.-based Open Rights Group and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the U.S. said that if tech companies have to ensure content is not harmful for children, they could end up being forced to choose between sanitizing their platforms or making users verify their ages by uploading official ID or using privacy-intrusive face scans to estimate how old they are.
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