UK announces stricter rules for the Online Safety Act
The UK government has taken urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act, putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to remove harmful material.
This amendment to the existing act announced on Monday 8 September is focused on tackling content that encourages or assists serious self-harm.
Under the new regulations, this type of material will be treated as a priority offence for all users and trigger the strongest possible legal protections.
Platforms that host this material will be compelled to actively seek out and eliminate this content before it can reach users and potentially cause irreparable harm.
The government argued that it although it acknowledged platforms have already taken steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, stricter requirements are needed to prevent potentially terrible consequences for families in the UK.
“This government is determined to keep people safe online. Vile content that promotes self-harm continues to be pushed on social media and can mean potentially heart-wrenching consequences for families across the country,” said Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.
“Our enhanced protections will make clear to social media companies that taking immediate steps to keep users safe from toxic material that could be the difference between life and death is not an option, but the law.”
The Online Safety Act, which is already in effect, aims to protect young people from harmful and inappropriate content online, including imposing stricter controls on age verfication for adult content.
The law also requires companies to securely store and manage the data required to authenticate the age of users, and to take proper action to remove harmful and dangerous content.
