Rebels get ban on ‘legal but harmful’ web content axed

TORY rebels have forced the Government to ditch a curb on “legal but harmful” content in an overhaul of looming web laws.

The Online Safety Bill reforms will force social media firms to bolster protections for children.

Communications “which encourage serious self-harm” will become illegal but ministers have bowed to demands from backbenchers to alter the Bill, which will return to Parliament on Monday. The Government has said the change was influenced by the case of Molly Russell, a 14-year-old who took her own life in November 2017 after viewing suicide and self-harm material on social media. Instead of the “legal but harmful” clause, web giants will be hit with new duties around transparency, accountability and free speech.