What the latest government U-turn means for the Online Safety Bill

Social media bosses will be held criminally liable – if they can be prosecuted – says Sean O’Grady

Age verification, taking content down and parental controls could be used to protect children from harm (PA)

In the face of a near-certain defeat in the Commons on the Online Safety Bill, the Sunak government has caved in to demands from Tory rebels to alter the draft legislation. It is the latest in a series of U-turns on key areas of policy. Now at the report stage in the Commons, the government has negotiated an agreed amendment with the rebels. The bill, as altered, will now almost certainly become law in the coming weeks.

What did the rebels secure?

Led by Tory MPs Andrea Leadsom, Bill Cash, Priti Patel and Iain Duncan Smith, and with support from Labour, the 50 or so dissidents demanded tougher sanctions on the executives of online platforms who fail in a statutory duty to protect children from online harms, such as, for example, exposure to material related to bullying, self-harm, terrorism, pornography or other dangers. Failure to fulfil a legal obligation could mean a custodial sentence of two years. This personal criminal liability is the essence of the new addition.