The UK government will introduce ‘world first’ internet safety laws designed to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, new proposals claim.
A newly introduced duty of care will require firms to take more responsibility for the safety of users and more actively tackle the harm caused by content or activity on their platforms.The regulator will have the power to issue ‘substantial fines, block access to sites and potentially impose liability on individual members of senior management’.However, the proposals have prompted warnings that oversight should not amount to state censorship.
‘The internet can be brilliant at connecting people across the world – but for too long these companies have not done enough to protect users, especially children and young people, from harmful content,’ she said.‘Online companies must start taking responsibility for their platforms, and help restore public trust in this technology.’
Does Google+ even exist anymore?