UK waters down Online Safety Bill after free speech outcry
- UK government scraps plans to define and regulate ‘legal but harmful speech’ from Online Safety Bill
- Britain had sought crack down on online racism, sexual abuse, bullying, fraud and other harmful material
The British government abandoned a plan to force tech firms to remove internet content that is harmful but legal, after the proposal drew strong criticism from lawmakers and civil liberties groups.
The UK has watered down its Online Safety Bill, an ambitious but controversial attempt to crack down on online racism, sexual abuse, bullying, fraud and other harmful material.
Similar efforts are under way in the European Union and the United States, but the UK’s was one of the most sweeping.
In its original form, the bill gave regulators wide-ranging powers to sanction digital and social media companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.
Critics expressed concern that a requirement for the biggest platforms to remove “legal but harmful” content could lead to censorship and undermine free speech.
The Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who took office last month, has now dropped that part of the bill, acknowledging that it could “over-criminalise” online content.