Ofcom boss says tech boards will be sanctioned over care failures
OFCOM’S chief executive has warned of “sanctions for directors” of tech firms if the watchdog is appointed to oversee Duty of Care legislation.
Dame Melanie Dawes said that large fines “needed to be part” of the new online regulatory regime being drawn up by the Government.
Her comments come as ministers are considering what powers to arm the new regulator with when they impose a statutory duty of care on tech companies, a measure The Telegraph has been campaigning for since 2018.
Proposals could see a regulator levying fines running into billions of pounds on firms that fail to protect children and other users from harm. Other sanctions being considered are fines or prosecution for directors of failing companies, or powers to enforce a UK block on them if they repeatedly breach their duty of care.
Earlier this year, the Government said it is “minded” to make Ofcom the online regulator. The decision is expected to be confirmed later this year.
Yesterday, Dame Melanie told the culture select committee that Ofcom could use existing penalties such as a “disruption of service temporarily” against sites which fail to protect users.
The new head of Ofcom, who took up the role in March, added that she had been alarmed by the spread of fake coronavirus news on social media sites during the lockdown, such as conspiracy theories that 5G mobile signal spread the virus.
She said: “We need to know a lot more about the behaviour of anonymous accounts. Transparency at the moment is just not good enough.”
Dame Dawes highlighted a David Icke interview broadcast on the local London Live television station, in which the conspiracy theorist shared his unsubstantiated views on the causes behind the outbreak of Covid-19.
She said that while Ofcom had been able to take action against the broadcaster over the incident, videos of the interview were still able to spread on platforms such as Youtube, although she did acknowledge that Youtube had moved to take them down.