Leaders at tech companies around the world could face up to two years in prison in the United Kingdom if they do not comply with new online safety laws.
Draft legislation aims to crack down on social media and other online entities to ensure safety and privacy for users, particularly children. The laws were drafted to prevent uploading and spreading of harmful content such as racism, bullying, fraud and sexual abuse.
While the legislation has been criticized by Parliament members in the past, the new draft has received bipartisan support.
The bill has to be voted on by British lawmakers.
The legislation has been updated several times since its inception. Among the changes are hefty fines or blockages if networks fail to remove harmful content after being notified of its existence, as well as the labeling of sending unsolicited nudes as a criminal offense.
The fines could be up to 10 percent of the affected company’s annual global income. The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the bill’s regulator, has been granted legal grounds to request information from companies they suspect of not following the bill’s rules.
If Ofcom is able to prove that the companies withheld information or have not responded properly to notifications of inappropriate or illegal content, the executives would be held criminally liable. This part of the law will be enforced two months after the law itself is enacted, meaning companies and websites will have time to crack down on their content before facing legal consequences.
Some U.K. residents have pushed back against the new version of the bill, including memes from the Open Rights Group. The organization claims that, despite good intentions, the regulations could result in a slippery slope that could end up violating free speech.
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