The end of the self-regulation era for Big Tech
On the 17th March 2022, the UK government presented[1] an updated Online Safety Bill to Parliament. The Bill is the cornerstone of the government’s plan to make the UK the ‘safest place in the world to be online’. It will impact a significant number of businesses operating in the UK that host user generated content including social media platforms, forums, messaging apps, online games, search engines and more.
The Bill places a duty of care on businesses to put processes in place to protect users from harmful content. In all in-scope companies will need to tackle illegal content, and if their service is likely to be accessed by children, they must protect them from harmful content. A small number of the biggest and highest-risk platforms (Category 1) will need to have systems to protect adults pre-defined legal but harmful content.
The new online safety new regulator, Ofcom, will have the power to fine companies that fail to meet their duty of care up to £18m or 10% of global turnover, whichever is higher. While some tech companies will have more extensive responsibilities, all businesses that fall within the scope of the law will need to adapt to this new regulatory environment to avoid these tough penalties.
Understanding the detail
While the updated version on the Bill followed the same principles as the original there were a number of changes:
- Category 1 services will have to take action to minimise the likelihood of fraudulent adverts being published on their service.
- Changed the definition of legal but harmful content accessed by adults so that all categories of such content will be voted on by Parliament.
- Inclusion of a list of priority illegal content on the face of the bill rather than in secondary legislation
- Requiring Category 1 services to offer adult users the option to verify their identity and then opt-out of interacting with unverified users.
- Take forward the Law Commission’s recommendations for harm-based, false and threatening communications offences.
- All service providers that display pornographic content will have to prevent children from accessing this content.
- Criminal sanctions for senior executives who failure to comply with information notices to be introduced as soon as possible after Royal Assent.
- Ofcom can recommend the use of tools for content moderation, user profiling and behaviour identification.
Where should tech companies start?
This regulation will be more than a tick box exercise. Technology and social media platforms will need to demonstrate that systems are in place to protect their users. The fallout out of getting things wrong will be more than financial – as brand reputation and user confidence will also be at risk.
Facing the risk of such significant financial and reputational damage, having a 360-degree view of the online safety environment is crucial. In addition to ensuring that the right systems and process are in place to protect end users, tech companies must develop a considered communications strategy to protect the reputation of their brand.
FTI Consulting can provide an in-depth understanding of the conversations surrounding the Bill as it moves through Parliament and provide data-driven landscape analysis and guidance on regulatory considerations. From a corporate comms perspective, communication that is not informed by data is more susceptible to falling through the gaps and less likely to be seen or heard by your audiences.
References
[1] https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3137/publications
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