Duty of care laws for big tech ‘won’t protect all online’

DUTY of care laws will not be able to protect everyone online because there are “far too many moles to whack”, the interim chairman of media regulator Ofcom has said.

Maggie Carver, who has been in the position since January, said expectations need to be set about the scope of the upcoming Online Safety Bill.

Ms Carver told the VLV Autumn Conference yesterday that the watchdog was working “very constructively” on the legislation with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The bill is expected to force the biggest technology firms to abide by a duty of care to users. Asked if she thought the bill would go far enough, she said: “We do need to set expectations, we’re not going to be able to manage everything.

“I always say it’s a bit like whack-amole where, with the broadcasting code, you can whack every mole.

“But online there are far too many moles to whack.”