New laws finally make tech giants accountable

Following this newspaper’s calls for an online duty of care, the Government is launching a regulator

It is easy to lose perspective on just how transformative the development of the internet has been for humanity in such a short space of time. It has stimulated a vast wave of popular, powerful and useful technology that connects us in ways that were never thought possible.

The world recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web. Its British creator, Sir Tim Berners-lee, called for action to correct the dangerous direction in which the web is moving, recommending new laws to limit people’s exposure to the worst it has to offer.

Today, that is exactly what this Government is setting out. We’ve published our Online Harms White Paper and announced new laws as

part of our determination to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. Technology should bring humanity benefits, not harms. And it still can.

No longer will we wait for online companies to act voluntarily to tackle the very real harms that people face on their platforms every day – from bullying and harassment, self-harm and suicide, to child sexual abuse and the glorification of terrorism and violent crime.

The proposals in our White Paper are designed to build an effective new system to manage the risks of the online world. I want to protect the vulnerable and restore public confidence, while continuing to encourage tech pioneers and innovation in the digital economy.

The era of self-regulation for online companies is over. Voluntary actions from industry to tackle online harms have not been applied consistently or gone far enough. Tech can be an incredible force for good, and we want the sector to be part of the solution in protecting their users. However, those that fail to do this will face tough action.

To do this, we will bring in a regulator to enforce a new statutory “duty of care” on online platforms to keep people, particularly children, safe. A duty of care is something this newspaper has been calling for and, after careful consideration, we think it is the best way of setting clear, concrete responsibilities for tackling harmful content or activity online. There will also be tougher requirements for platforms to take robust action against terrorist use of the internet and child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The regulator will have sufficient teeth to hold companies to account when they fail to keep us safe, including the power to issue substantial fines. And we will consider making senior managers liable for breaches in their company’s duty of care.

I want to put users’ safety at the heart of this new system. We will expect companies to have proper systems in place to seek out harmful content and do what they can to prevent it reaching the vulnerable. Social media companies will be forced to follow codes of practice, act on complaints within a set timeframe, and be much more transparent in the steps they are taking to make their platforms safer.

We are also determined that technology and education should be part of the solution. The White Paper establishes how we will support innovation and safety at the design stage of new technologies. And we will establish a taskforce to ensure both children and adults are able to think critically and respond to the range of deceptive and malicious behaviours online, including grooming and disinformation.

It is any responsible government’s duty to ensure that the services offered to its citizens, whether online or offline, are safe to use. What we have set out today is our vision for how we can achieve this but maintain a free, open and secure internet where users’ rights, including freedom of expression, are safeguarded. It requires a combination of respect for innovation and respect for the rule of law. Our country is known the world over for both.

Working together with tech industry, civil society and academia, we can and will lead the world towards better standards for safety, and a new global culture of greater transparency, trust and accountability online.

Jeremy Wright QC is Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport