What is the Online Safety Bill? 

The government is currently in the process of creating what some are remarking as a one of a kind landmark piece of legislation that will regulate online social media and content platform for the protection of all UK citizens but with a specific focus on children, young people. The Bill is currently in the reports stage of the House of Commons and is expected to move into the third reading in the same house shortly. If successful in its return this week as it is expected, it will move into the House of Lords.

As stated the Online Safety Bill will make social media and content companies legally responsible for keeping children and young people safe online. It does this in a variety of ways. One of these being a renewed requirement for the removal of illegal content in a timely manner or even prevent it from even appearing on the platform.  

Alongside the removal of illegal content the Online Safety Bill also takes aim at content that is seen as harmful but legal. Specifically it will prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content freely and easily on platform. To reinforce this the Bill also requires the enforcement of age limits and age-checking measures rather than the system of passive reminders and mechanisms currently in place to ensure that those that have account are of the stated age for their platform, this is normally around 13/14 years old.  

Also, this Bill ensures that children and young people are as safe as they can be while accessing a social media platform as the company must ensure that risks and dangers posed to children on some of the largest social media platforms are more transparent and that risk assessments are easily accessible and regularly updated and published.  

One aspect of this Bill which has garnered widespread media attention is that of the Bills specific focus on the requirement for special media platforms to remove content promoting or glamourising self-harm. This is in part due to the tragic death of Molly Russell, a girl aged only 14 who “died from an act of self-harm” as stated by Coroner Walker (Crawford & Bell, 2022). The inquiry into Molly’s death has heard of the “deeply disturbing, deeply distressing” content that had under the algorithms used by the selected social media platform involved, in the six months prior to her death exposed up to 2,100 pieces of content related to what the Online Safety Bill would now classify as harmful content.  

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Types of content  

When thinking about what harmful content is and what is illegal content you might believe that this is straightforward. However, Bill specifically states its interpretation and determination of these. Within the Online Safety Bill it see harmful content as that being something which is not currently illegal but could be harmful or age-inappropriate for children and young people if exposed to it. This can be exposure on a short or long term. This category includes content that includes content such as pornographic, online abuse, cyberbullying or online harassment and as discussed content which promotes or glorifies suicide, self-harm or eating disorders. 

Within the Bill it categories Illegal content as you might have expected, content that is already illegal. The Bill will place a statutory duty on any social media and content platform that operates within the UK to remove all illegal content, stopping children and young people from seeing it, with the overall aim of removing it before they are able to encounter it actively or passively. This Bill if passed in its current form with force social media and content platforms to think about how they design their sites to reduce the likelihood of this type of content being uploaded or circulating.  

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Duty of care 

Very much like educators the Online Safety Bill will for the first time within the UK and on a global scale place on social media and content companies a duty of care to keep underage children off their platforms and to ensure the safety of children and young people while they are using their platform. 

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Proposed amendment 

One of the more impactful and innovative amendments is that of holding specific board members accountable for the actions of their company rather than the company collectively as it currently is within the Bill. This amendment would provide Ofcom, whom is the communication watchdog with the prosecution power to go after executives that break the Online Safety Bill. This came after Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Michele Donelan who this Bill sits under and the Prime Minister have faced a large group of Tory backbenchers tabling the amendment in response to their growing frustrations over the wreaking of the bill in previous readings. This amendment has been supported by the family of Molly Russell as well as the Labour Party.  

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Contention 

The Online Safety Bill is not without contention as critics from outside and inside the Conservative party state that this Bill is nothing more than the states less then subtle attempt at restricting free speech on online platform under the guise of child protection. However, groups such as the NSPCC have praised the government for the direction the Bill is heading in.  

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Reference  

Crawford, A and Bell, B, 2022. Molly Russell inquest: Father Makes Social Media Plea. London: BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-63073489 

Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport., 2022. A Guide to the Online Safety Bill. London: HM Government. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/a-guide-to-the-online-safety-bill?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhonu0brK_AIVzcLtCh0sqwIdEAAYASAAEgIJCvD_BwE