By Ben Kerrigan-
Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan and Home Secretary Priti Patel have announced plans by the British government to appoint communications watchdog Ofcom as the regulator to enforce rules to make the internet a safer place.
The announcement follows the government’s publication of its initial response to the public consultation on the Online Harms White Paper. The move is part of plans to protect children and vulnerable people online and give consumers greater confidence to use technology.
It follows concerns that online platforms are not doing enough to keep children safe. aims to provide the certainty technology businesses need to flourish and innovate while creating a fair and proportionate regulatory environment.The regulator will play a key role in enforcing a statutory duty of care to protect users from harmful and illegal terrorist and child abuse content.
The move is part of plans to protect children and vulnerable people online and give consumers greater confidence to use technology. It will provide the certainty technology businesses need to flourish and innovate while creating a fair and proportionate regulatory environment.
The Online Harms White Paper set out world-leading proposals to tackle these issues by introducing a statutory duty of care enforced by an independent regulator, with tough powers to hold platforms to account.
The paper features research findings that two thirds of adults in the UK are concerned about content online, and close to half say that they have seen hateful content in the past year. Online abuse can have a severe impact on people’s lives and is often targeted at the most vulnerable in our society.
Cyberbullying has been shown to have psychological and emotional impact. In a large survey of young people who had been cyberbullied, 37% had developed depression and 26% had suicidal thoughts
The public consultation on the Online Harms White Paper ran from 8 April 2019 to 1 July 2019. It received over 2,400 responses ranging from companies in the technology industry including large tech giants and small and medium sized enterprises, academics, think tanks, children’s charities, rights groups, publishers, governmental organisations and individuals
The regulator will play a key role in enforcing a statutory duty of care to protect users from harmful and illegal terrorist and child abuse content. It is another step towards achieving the government’s pledge to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.
Ofcom will get new powers to carry out its extended responsibilities. This will include making sure online companies have the systems and processes in place to fulfil the duty of care to keep people using their platforms safe.
DCMS Secretary of State Nicky Morgan said: ”With Ofcom at the helm of a proportionate and strong regulatory regime, we have an incredible opportunity to lead the world in building a thriving digital economy, driven by groundbreaking technology, that is trusted by and protects everyone in the UK.
We will give the regulator the powers it needs to lead the fight for an internet that remains vibrant and open but with the protections, accountability and transparency people deserve.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, said: While the internet can be used to connect people and drive innovation, we know it can also be a hiding place for criminals, including paedophiles, to cause immense harm.
It is incumbent on tech firms to balance issues of privacy and technological advances with child protection. That’s why it is right that we have a strong regulator to ensure social media firms fulfil their vital responsibility to vulnerable users.
Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said: The backbone of an internet that is safe for children is regulation, which is why this announcement is so important.
”Children face growing risks online, including cyber-bullying, sexual grooming, and exposure to self-harm forums. Two thirds of the vulnerable children supported through our sexual exploitation services were groomed online before meeting their abuser in person.
We cannot expect children to protect themselves. Instead we need a regulator to act without delay. To do so, it will need the necessary powers to carry out work effectively and to hold tech companies to account.
Barnardo’s looks forward to working with the Government to ensure children are safe online.
The government today sets out how different approaches to legal and illegal content will be taken and freedom of speech will be protected, as well as the businesses that are likely to be in scope.