Yesterday the UK Government announced that they would be introducing new data laws and measures. The goal is to “ensure the UK is the safest place in the world to be online”.
This should not come as a surprise to those keeping up with the UK’s tighterreforms in the past years.
From gov.uk:
-Independent regulator will be appointed to enforce stringent new standards.
-Social media firms must abide by mandatory “duty of care” to protect users and could face heavy fines if they fail to deliver.
-Measures are the first of their kind in the world in the fight to make the internet a safer place.
The new regulations will require that social media companies protect their customers. If they fail to do so, new regulators will present them with stiff penalties. These penalties will be in direct result of the new guidelines revealed in the “Online Harms White Papers“.
What Are The Online Harms White Papers?
The papers are the results of joint efforts by the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport and Home Office. Their goal is to create a new regulator that will ensure companies are abiding by the new rules.
The internet can be brilliant at connecting people across the world – but for too long these companies have not done enough to protect users, especially children and young people, from harmful content.
That is not good enough, and it is time to do things differently. We have listened to campaigners and parents, and are putting a legal duty of care on internet companies to keep people safe
Prime Minister Theresa May
This “duty of care” will enforce companies to carry out any changes necessary to ensure the safety of their users. It will also provide that companies take additional steps in protecting against any malicious activity present in their service(s). This includes any content that encourages suicide, incites violence, cyberbullying, and material not suited for children.
Other measures from the White Paper include:
-Further stringent requirements on tech companies to ensure child abuse and terrorist content is not disseminated online.
-Giving a regulator the power to force social media platforms and others to publish annual transparency reports on the amount of harmful content on their platforms and what they are doing to address this.
-Making companies respond to users’ complaints, and act to address them quickly.
-Codes of practice, issued by the regulator, which could include measures such as requirements to minimise the spread of misleading and harmful disinformation with dedicated fact checkers, particularly during election periods.
-A new “Safety by Design” framework to help companies incorporate online safety features in new apps and platforms from the start.
-A media literacy strategy to equip people with the knowledge to recognise and deal with a range of deceptive and malicious behaviours online, including catfishing, grooming and extremism.
How Will This Effect Qualifying Companies?
The gov.uk post makes it clear that the aim of these regulations is not to restrict the free internet. In fact, it still promotes that it is a “tremendous force for good”. They also mention that these measures will not present any “impossible” tasks for companies who are required to comply. According to the papers, the goals of these new laws are not to hold companies back, but rather help companies usher in new technological solutions that can improve their services while protecting their users.
At the moment, the Government is deciding whether they should utilize an existing party to form this regulator. They will take 12 weeks to explore their options. Upon making their decision, a final proposal will be proposed for legislation.
What This Means For The Digital You
As the data practices and regulation continue to develop you should be aware of what it means for the Digital You.
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