U.K. Parliament Adopts Online Safety Bill

LONDON—After years of debate and process, the parliament of the United Kingdom on Tuesday voted to adopt the Online Safety Bill that overhauls internet regulation throughout the country. Opposed by major technology companies, especially U.S.-based platform operators like Meta and Apple as well as a slate of influential civil society organizations, the bill establishes Ofcom as the U.K. internet regulator. The Online Safety Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in the upcoming days. “This major milestone means the government is within touching distance of delivering the most powerful child protection laws in a generation while ensuring adults are better empowered to take control of their online lives while protecting our mental health,” reads an official statement from His Majesty’s government. In that same release, technology secretary Michelle Donelan, MP, says that the Online Safety Bill “is a game-changing piece of legislation.” “Today, this government is taking an enormous step forward in our mission to make the U.K. the safest place in the world to be online,” Donelan said. Dame Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of Ofcom, also in the same statement said: “Very soon after the bill receives Royal Assent, we’ll consult on the first set of standards that we’ll expect tech firms to meet in tackling illegal online harms, including child sexual exploitation, fraud, and terrorism.” One of the primary criticisms of the Online Safety Bill is how the new law would intentionally weaken encryption on messaging platforms, including Signal and iMessage. Other criticisms of the bill include that it broadly requires age verification in order to use certain web platforms, like social media networks. Advocates working against the legislation additionally argue that the bill would restrict freedom of expression for not only users based in the United Kingdom but also in the United States, Australia and other current and former Commonwealth countries. This is due to the transnational nature of the internet. The United Kingdom is also one of the largest markets in the world for adult entertainment. Users looking to access adult content could face potential geo-blocks, similar to what companies like Pornhub’s parent firm Aylo have done in jurisdictions across the United States and other fallout. Mainstream technology companies have warned that the Online Safety Bill could force them to completely remove entire products from the market for U.K. web users. Apple said that the Online Safety Bill could lead to the company withdrawing iMessage from the constitutional monarchy long controlled by the populistic, pro-Brexit Tories. The former imperial possession of Australia has opted against requiring age-gating measures at this point in time. Rather, the government has directed the independent eSafety Commissioner to consult with technology companies across various sectors, including age verification providers and operators of online adult entertainment platforms. Now, Ofcom and the U.K. government have the authority to scan private messaging apps for material that could be potentially harmful to the safety and well-being of the country’s citizens, including minors. But the definition of what is considered “legal but harmful” is extremely broad and will chill freedom of expression. “While the Online Safety Bill’s intent is to protect children from harm, its wide-reaching provisions, which include scanning for private intimate images and even artwork, dangerously entrust platforms with responsibilities that more properly fall to parents,” argues Jeremy Malcolm, an independent online trust and safety consultant, in a reaction to the Online Safety Bill’s passage. “A more appropriate role for platforms to play is to prioritize safer design, while governments should recognize that measures that support public health and education may do more to advance the cause of child protection than censorship and surveillance laws.”