The UK is facing calls to “slim down” its Online Safety Bill amid concerns over its impact on people’s freedoms and privacy.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has published a briefing paper in which think tanks warn about the risk that the bill could hand the Secretary of State and Ofcom “unprecedented powers to define and limit speech, with limited parliamentary or judicial oversight”.

The authors of the research have also expressed their fears that the piece of legislation will lead digital platforms to use automated tools in a “cautious and censorious” manner against content that is “only reasonably considered to be illegal”.

The Online Safety Bill has been presented by the government as a ground-breaking law that will protect the privacy and safety of children in the digital sphere. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has said it will make the UK “the safest place in the world for our children to go online”.

The bill, which is currently making...