The Online Safety Bill will shortly become law in the UK as soon as it receives Royal Assent. The legislation will introduce a new regulatory regime for online platforms and search engines which target the UK, imposing wide-ranging obligations on in-scope services with serious consequences for non-compliance. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Category: Internet (Page 1 of 20)
One in three children uses the internet, and one in three internet users is a child. Yet tech companies claim to be unable to determine who is a child online. This is a practical but also a political challenge – does society want to task companies with age-assessing all their users? Or is that too great a risk to the privacy and freedom of expression of both adults and children? Continue reading
First, an apology for the title. Not for the rather sententious ‘shifting paradigms’ – but for ‘platform regulation’. If ever there was a cliché that cloaks assumptions and fosters ambiguity, ‘platform regulation’ is it. Continue reading
The much-anticipated Online Safety Bill 2022 is currently making its way through Parliament. At the time of writing, the Bill is currently at the Report Stage in the House of Lords. It is not yet known when the Bill will come into force. Continue reading
The European Union filed an antitrust case against Google on June 14, 2023, charging that the company abused its power in the online advertising market to disadvantage its competition. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a similar civil antitrust suit against Google on Jan. 24, 2023. Continue reading
Assailed from all quarters for being not tough enough, for being too tough, for being fundamentally misconceived, for threatening freedom of expression, for technological illiteracy, for threatening privacy, for excessive Ministerial powers, or occasionally for the sin of not being some other Bill entirely – and yet enjoying almost universal cross-party Parliamentary support – the UK’s Online Safety Bill is now limping its way through the House of Lords. It starts its Committee stage on 19 April 2023. Continue reading
This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases – Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh – that have the potential to fundamentally change how social media companies recommend and moderate content. Both cases will impact the scope of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act which shields internet platforms from liability for content posted on their platforms. Section 230 is viewed by many as one of the foundations of internet freedom. Continue reading
From what feels like time immemorial the UK government has paraded its proposed online harms legislation under the banner of ‘What is Illegal Offline is Illegal Online’. As a description of what is now the Online Safety Bill, the slogan is ill-fitting. The Bill contains nothing that extends to online behaviour a criminal offence that was previously limited to offline. Continue reading
Any commentary upon legislation in progress risks rapidly becoming outdated: an occupational hazard to which this piece is by no means immune. Continue reading
Part 3: Criticism
In a rare show of national unity, disapproval of the OSB has spanned both ends of the political spectrum. Alongside criticism from the Labour culture minister, Conservative politicians have also weighed in on the ‘legal but harmful’ debate. Thinktanks and non-profit groups have likewise been apprehensive.
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