First look at the new Online Safety Bill
For anyone who is isn’t aware, there is a new Online Safety Bill going through parliament which imposes additional responsibilities on firms which host user-generated content, i.e. those which allow users to post their own content online or interact with each other, and for search engines, which will have tailored duties focussed on minimising the presentation of harmful search results to users.
Platforms likely to be accessed by children will need to:
- prevent access to material that is harmful for children.
- ensure there are strong protections from activity which is harmful to children, which the government expects will include harms such as bullying.
One of the main aims of this new law is the focus on preventing children accessing harmful (but technically legal) content such as self harm and having much easier mechanisms for reporting content. Much of new law seems to leave the implementation specifics to the platforms themselves with regulator OFCOM likely to provide guidance on how best they should comply with the law once it completes its passage through parliament.
What it doesn’t help with
Whilst the new law is likely to be welcomed by many parents and carers, what it doesn’t really do is help prevent many of the others risks young people face such as grooming and exploitation and so good CEOP training and education is still going to be important.
If you would like more info on the proposed Online Safety Bill, there is a fact sheet available.
Created On 21/02/2023 00:00:00 by Ringway Training