KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

What is the Online Safety Bill and why are some people worried about it?

What is the Online Safety Bill and why are some people worried about it?

A draft of the bill is being scrutinised before it is formally introduced to parliament. While some have welcomed its provisions to protect children, others have criticised it as a "censor's charter".

Following the murder of Sir David Amess and an arrest after another MP was emailed a death threat, senior figures in Westminster are decrying the abuse directed towards politicians over the internet.

Parliament is currently scrutinising the proposed solution to these abusive messages, the draft Online Safety Bill, which aims to establish a new way to regulate online content - covering not just abusive messages but all harmful material online, from bullying through to pornography.

It has the support of England's Children's Commissioner and the NSPCC, but some are concerned the law will end up introducing more problems than it solves. They have criticised the current draft for its potential to have a chilling effect on free speech and hand censorship powers to the government.

Sites such as Instagram have been criticised for hosting abusive posts


What does the Online Safety Bill aim to do?


The Online Safety Bill will introduce obligations on companies to keep their users safe.

That safety is defined in broad terms. It covers material that is already illegal under English law (such as images of child abuse) as well as material that is considered legal but harmful.

Technology companies will also be required to protect their users' rights to freedom of expression and privacy.

How these companies comply with the law will be monitored by Ofcom which will become the online safety regulator.

A draft of the bill is currently going through pre-legislative scrutiny in parliament by a joint committee made up of members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.

This committee will report back by 10 December after which the government will look at the report and see if any changes are required. After this the bill will be formally introduced to parliament to begin its journey into law.

David Davis MP has described the law as a censor's charter


What are the problems?


Defining "legal but harmful" material is one of the major challenges facing the government.

"This type of activity can range from online bullying and abuse, to advocacy of self-harm, to spreading disinformation and misinformation," the government explained in a note accompanying the draft.

"Whilst this behaviour may fall short of amounting to a criminal offence, it can have corrosive and damaging effects, creating toxic online environments and negatively impacting users' ability to express themselves online."

This has been flagged as a concern both by the technology companies who say they do know what they will need to censor, and by free speech advocates including David Davis MP.

Mr Davis criticised the bill as "a good example of the best of intentions leading to the worst of outcomes" and warned that it was "a censor's charter" as a result.

He warned that as the law is backed up by fines potentially stretching into billions of pounds for companies that fail to tackle this content, they will err on the side of caution.

"You can be sure that in any area of controversy – political issues, culture wars, or even COVID science – there will be plenty of people complaining and demanding a post be taken down.

"And with Silicon Valley mega corporations as arbiters of the truth, anything that appears online and can be characterised by someone as misinformation could be censored.

"The chilling effect on free speech will be terrible," he added.

Some warn the new law could undermine Ofcom's independence


Secretary of State powers & independence of Ofcom


Ofcom is an internationally respected independent regulator, but there are concerns this independence could be questioned as a result of the powers given to the Secretary of State by the Online Safety Bill.

In many repressive regimes there is no independence for media regulators from government, and so news organisations find themselves forced to publish and broadcast what those governments want them to.

Ofcom currently sets its own standards, with the objectives those standards should meet agreed by parliament, and the government is not allowed to direct Ofcom to target particular kinds of content.

However the draft Online Safety Bill will change that.

Carnegie Trust has cautioned that the draft bill gives the Secretary of State "relatively unconstrained powers" to:

• Set strategic priorities which Ofcom must take into account
• Set priority content in relation to each of the safety duties
• Direct Ofcom to make amendments to their codes to reflect Government policy
• Give guidance to Ofcom on the exercise of their functions and powers

The charity said that the government "has not explained why the Secretary of State needs these powers" and proposed that they be "amended to create a more conventional balance between democratic oversight and regulatory independence".

Paul Dacre is reportedly Downing Street's favoured candidate to chair Ofcom


In addition to the potential political influence which the draft Online Safety Bill appears to accommodate, the potential appointment of former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre as Ofcom's chair has provoked concern.

Mr Dacre was seen as Downing Street's favoured candidate for the role, but he did not pass the initial interview process according to reports. Despite this, his appointment has not been ruled out.

In an open letter to the civil servant running the appointment process, the chair of parliament's DCMS Committee, Julian Knight MP, criticised how the process was being run.

Mr Knight did not mention Mr Dacre by name, but his letter stated: "Where a previous candidate has been deemed to be unappointable for a post, they should be ruled out of re-applying.

"However, this crucial line is missing from the campaign information to recruit Ofcom's next Chair. It would be extremely alarming if this was a deliberate omission rather than an oversight and we are seeking clarification," Mr Knight added.

Exemptions around journalistic content


As it stands the law contains exemptions for journalistic content, but defining this material is difficult.

Alongside established and accredited news organisations there are tens of thousands of independent journalists and citizen journalists whose work should fall under this heading.

As expert technology lawyer Graham Smith wrote: "If you want to carve out the press, how do you do so without giving the government (or Ofcom) power to decide who does and does not qualify as the press?

"If a state organ draws that line, isn't the resulting official list in itself an exercise in press regulation?" he asked.

Mr Smith continued: "Beneath the surface of the draft Bill lurks a foundational challenge. Its underlying premise is that speech is potentially dangerous, and those that facilitate it must take precautionary steps to mitigate the danger.

"That is the antithesis of the traditional principle that, within boundaries set by clear and precise laws, we are free to speak as we wish," he added.

"The mainstream press may comfort themselves that this novel approach to speech is (for the moment) being applied only to the evil internet and to the unedited individual speech of social media users; but it is an unwelcome concept to see take root if you have spent centuries arguing that freedom of expression is not a fundamental risk, but a fundamental right."

Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×