LONDON - Britain’s government intends to make it illegal to encourage others to harm themselves online and will fine social media companies that fail to remove such material, as part of a revamp of legislation governing online behaviour.
“Social media firms can no longer remain silent bystanders ... and they’ll face fines for allowing this abusive and destructive behaviour to continue on their platforms under our laws,” Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan said. Under the proposals, social media companies will have to remove and limit users’ exposure to material that deliberately encourages people to harm themselves.
Full details of the latest proposals - including the criminal penalties faced by people who promote self-harm, and the scale of fines faced by companies - will come next month when legislative amendments are put before Parliament.