New amendment to Online Safety Bill helps ensure social media executives take charge of children’s safety online

UK Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has been quoted in recent media commentary as stating that she is “not ruling out” amending the Online Safety Bill to allow regulators to prosecute social media executives who fail to protect children’s safety online.  This is seen as part of a general move to seek to place greater responsibility on social platforms to protect users.

Summary of the UK’s Online Safety Bill

The Online Safety Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 17 March 2022 and proposes a new set of laws to protect children and adults online.

Some of the key provisions and measures of the bill include:

• Obligations on providers to remove “illegal” content quickly and efficiently, particularly content promoting or depicting self-harm, sexual violence, and suicide.
• Preventing children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content.
• Enforcing age limits and age-checking measures to ensure underage children are unable to access social media platforms.
• Requiring social media platforms to publish risk assessments setting out the risks and dangers present on their platforms.
• Allowing parents and children clear and accessible ways to report problems online.
• Arming Ofcom with the ability to impose financial penalties on companies of up to 10% of their global turnover.

The proposed amendment to the Online Safety Bill

The amendment alluded to by the Culture Secretary woulud empower Ofcom to prosecute individual executives at social media companies that have been found to have breached the Online Safety Bill or otherwise connived with or consented to undermining elements of the bill specifically designed to protect children’s safety online.

If found guilty, the amendment would allow courts to impose a fine, auline Safety Bill

The proposal to introduce criminal sanction for failing to protect children’s safety online ought to be considered in conjunction with the other criminal offences which have been suggested by the Online Safety Bill.

In addition to the amendment discussed above, as it is currently written, the bill also provides that:

• Cyberflashing, taking part in digital “pile-ons”, and sending threatening social media posts will all constitute a criminal offence respectively.
• Social media and tech firms must prevent scam adverts and harmful content from appearing on their platforms.
• Senior managers will be fined or jailed if they fail to ensure “accurate and timely” responses to information request when investigated by Ofcom.
• The tampering of information requested by Ofcom will constitute a criminal offence.
• Obstructing or delaying raids, audits and inspections will constitute a criminal offence.
• Providing false information at interviews with Ofcom will constitute a criminal offence.

Comment

The Online Safety Bill aims to place greater responsibility on social media companies to protect users on their platforms, and the new amendment proposed is no exception to this.  It seeks to drive social media companies to be transparent as to how they will protect users on their platforms (adults and, especially, children) and tackle harmful content, or risk criminal sanction.

We are currently awaiting the bill returning to the Committee stage in the Commons. The drafting and contents of any future legislation are by no means clear. It is certainly the case that the bill and the proposed amendments and changes to its drafting are areas of considerable media commentary. Many criticise the bill on the basis that it fetters free speech and that it does not go far enough to protect minors.  

The risk of criminal liability is not one to be taken lightly. We expect that the criminal law elements of the bill will be of concern to senior individuals within social media companies or those that deal with content moderation issues as part of their role.