A welcome move to protect children online
It is 10 months since the
Telegraph launched a campaign to convince the Government that a statutory duty of care should be imposed on social media and other internet-based companies to take responsibility for the harmful content on their platforms. As is often the case in this country, such matters take time; sometimes too much time. But the Government wanted to take soundings about how this might work before formulating a policy which, we are pleased to say, is to be announced in a white paper today.
Some may see this as an attempt to gag free expression or as a state move to control the internet. We trust it is neither; and, in any case, such censorship is no longer possible, given the internet’s all-pervasive nature.
Few would contend that the internet has not been a liberating force on a par with the invention of printing. But it has also unleashed malign instincts and can be exploited by fanatics, criminals and cranks. Our children are especially vulnerable to images and extremist views that can be accessed in seconds by everyone – something that was previously unimaginable.
There is nothing draconian about wishing to protect children. The concept of a mandatory duty of care is well-established in UK law and should be easily understood by those on whom it is imposed. Internet companies are not above the law and their reluctance to police themselves has made such a statutory approach essential. We know this works because a new law in Germany that imposes heavy fines on companies which fail to minimise harms has galvanised Facebook and others to remove hate speech and grotesque images within 24 hours.
Ofcom, the UK regulator which may police the new legal regime (and it is crucial that this role should be independent of government), estimates that 12 million British users have suffered online harm. No country can allow this to continue without seeking to ameliorate the baleful influence of the internet, while protecting innovation and freedom of expression. Where the UK leads in this endeavour, others will follow.
Instinctively, we favour encouragement over enforcement; but the former has failed. Today’s announcement offers tech firms the chance to recognise their duties and act responsibly. If they don’t, they must realise that governments will come under pressure to introduce far tougher laws than this.