Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes acknowledged that keeping social networks in check will be “really challenging” and suggested some areas of the proposed laws go tougher.
The Online Safety Bill, of which a long-delayed draft was published in May, is intended to make tech firms accountable for harmful third-party content hosted on their platforms, ranging from illegal content such as terrorist propaganda to abusive content that falls below the threshold of criminality, such as bullying of minors. It will be enforced by Ofcom, which could block access to their sites; fine them either up to 10 per cent of annual turnover or £18m (whichever is higher); and hold senior managers criminally liable for failures of duty of care.
Speaking on the Online Safety Bill during its committee stage, Dawes said the bill would “broadly” equip Ofcom with what it needs to regulate tech giants, the watchdog’s boss has said.
“Do we feel we have what we need to act and act quickly...