UK to set up ‘first internet watchdog’ overseeing harmful content

The British government said Wednesday it plans to allow its broadcast regulator to police the internet and issue substantial fines when social media giants fail to remove “online harm.”

Media minister Nicky Morgan told parliament she was “minded to” give the Office of Communications (Ofcom) the powers to oversee online user-generated content.

But she said the expanded agency – dubbed the “first internet watchdog” by UK media – would lack the power to take down offensive posts or block platforms that violate “their duty of care.”

Those suggestions were outlined in a set of proposals published last April by the government of former prime minister Theresa May.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson took over in July and focused first on navigating the Brexit crisis.

But Britain safely left the European Union last month and his government is now preparing to stamp its own vision on the country.

Morgan and Interior Minister Priti Patel published a report outlining Ofcom’s “power to issue warnings, notices and substantial fines” to companies “that facilitate the sharing of (abusive) user-generated content.”

The two senior ministers stressed they were equally conscious of respecting freedoms of expression and remaining a “pro-technology government.”

“We will not prevent adults from accessing or posting legal content, nor require companies to remove specific pieces of legal content,” they wrote.

“The new regulatory framework will instead require companies, where relevant, to explicitly state what content and behavior is acceptable on their sites and then for platforms to enforce this consistently.”

Ofcom was established in 2002 and began to formally oversee television and radio the following year.

But Britain has no official internet or social media regulator and is looking for ways to stop harmful online material from reaching children.

The issue gained added urgency when a British schoolgirl killed herself in 2017 after following a series of accounts about suicide and depression on Instagram and Pinterest.