Online protection

Home secretary Priti Patel confirmed last week an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, currently before parliament, will give Ofcom extra powers to compel social media platforms and tech companies to roll out or develop technologies to improve identification and removal of harmful content. It will be able to impose fines where companies fail to do so.

Ofcom said it expects the powers to come into force two months after the Bill passes into law and planned ‘to move as rapidly as possible’. It anticipates relevant secondary legislation in the year after Royal Assent and will publish draft codes and guidance on protection of children as well as a sector risk assessment, aiming to finalise these within a year.