As the long-awaited Online Safety Bill nears final approval, the United Kingdom has made last-minute amendments by setting up higher standards for age verification tools and ensuring effectiveness whether a user is a child.
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LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 17: In this photo illustration, a teenage child looks at a screen of age-restricted content on a laptop screen on January 17, 2023 in London, England.
Tightening Restrictions
The United Kingdom tightened its restrictions for the Online Safety Bill as it nears its final approval. According to a report from Reuters, the government will add new offenses with a much higher standard for age verification tools. These were commonly used by services that publish and allow pornographic materials on their platforms.
This effort from the United Kingdom is very similar to the European Union and other countries that have been grappling with how to protect users from social media's harmful content, especially children, without damaging freedom of speech. The bill is currently at parliament's upper House of Lords where lawmakers can still make changes before passing or rejecting it.
Aside from the mentioned above, the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology stated that this will also seek top executives accountable, as they are responsible for operating their respective platforms.
Tech and Digital Economy Minister Paul Scully stated that they are acting rapidly and with urgency to make sure that the Online Safety Bill will be the standard for protecting children in the world.
"This government will not allow the lives of our children to be put at stake whenever they go online; whether that is through facing abuse or viewing harmful content that could go on to have a devastating impact on their lives," he added. A two-year maximum sentence will also be given as a new offense for revenge porn, threatening to share intimate images.
Ofcom as Regulator
As part of the amendments, Ofcom will be regulated to retrieve data on the online activity of deceased children (if requested) to understand if and how their activity on the internet may have contributed to their death. It was also reported that Ofcom will also research the role of app stores' games in children's access to harmful content.
Based on a report from Bloomberg, authorities from the UK will also be publishing guidance on how tech giants and their platforms can reduce potential risks to women and improve public literacy of disinformation.
Also Read: Online Safety Bill Finally Reaches the UK Parliament - Know the Bill's Current Structure Here
The Online Safety Bill is an attempt by the government of the United Kingdom to make the Internet a much safer channel for everyone, especially children. The Verge reported that it will crack down on illegal content and minimize the possibility for kids to encounter harmful and age-inappropriate content, including child sexual abuse material, online harassment, suicide glorification, and more.
This was revealed way back in April 2018 by former Digital Minister Jeremy Wright, which brought attention because of the death of Molly Russel who had access to content relating self-harm and suicide online. The Cambridge Analytica scandal also created arguments, leading to political impetus.
Related Article: Signal Threatens To Leave UK if Online Safety Bill Impairs End-to-End Encryption
