Online safety

Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design

The law must keep pace with technological change but shouldn’t be reactive, write Alexander Brown & Alexandra Webster

As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR

Data protection law already provides the tools to tackle intimate image abuse: it is time for those in power to act, says Jon Belcher

Lawyers have until 26 May to share their views on the best way to protect children from harm online

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has joined with 60 data protection authorities from around the world to call for ‘urgent regulatory attention’ to the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI)

Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn

Lawyers can no longer afford to ignore the metaverse, says Jacqueline Watts of Allin1 Advisory in this week's NLJ. Far from being a passing tech fad, virtual platforms like Roblox host thriving economies and social interactions, raising real legal issues

As virtual worlds continue to expand, so do the avenues for legal disputes within them: Jacqueline Watts explains why lawyers should get to grips with the metaverse

Writing in NLJ this week, Lucy Blake, Joanna Ludlam, Will Jones and Karam Jardaneh of Jenner & Block unpack the far-reaching implications of the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023