Everything you need to know about the new Online Safety Bill

New legislation will be set out to protect internet users from online harm

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The UK government is preparing to introduce its long-awaited Online Safety Bill in Parliament on Thursday 17 March, which it says will make the online world “safer for users”.

The bill aims to tackle a wide range of harmful online content, from internet scams to cyberbullying to pornography and more.

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries said the bill, which was first published as a draft in May 2021, said it would hold tech giants to account when “harm, abuse and criminal behaviour have run riot on their platforms”.

In December, a committee of MPs and peers called for a sweeping overhaul of the draft bill and introduced changes that would protect people “vulnerable to abuse, fraud, violence and in some cases even loss of life”.

Since the committee’s report, a number of new proposals have been added to the Online Safety Bill to strengthen it.

Here is everything you need to know about the Online Safety Bill and how it works:

What is the Online Safety Bill?

The Online Safety Bill is a landmark piece of legislation that MPs and campaigners hope will create safer digital spaces by putting more responsibility on tech and social media firms to protect their users.

It covers websites and apps that offer user-generated content, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube. Search engines such as Google also come under the bill’s coverage.

According to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the legislation will require such platforms to “protect children, tackle illegal activity and uphold their stated terms and conditions”.

What will the Online Safety Bill do?

The bill will give the regulator Ofcom the power to fine companies that fail to comply with the laws up to 10 per cent of their annual global turnover.

Ofcom will also be able to force tech firms to improve their practices and will block sites that refuse to comply.

In addition, executives of companies that fail to cooperate with Ofcom’s information requests could face prosecution or jail time within two months of the bill becoming law.

If it passes through Parliament, the bill will require social media platforms to tackle “legal but harmful” content, such as exposure to self-harm, harassment and eating disorders.

Such companies will also be required to protect journalism and democratic political debate on their platforms. According to DCMS, news content “will be completely exempt from any regulation under the bill” in order to guarantee press freedom.

Other offences that have been added to the bill include revenge porn, hate crime, fraud, the sale of illegal drugs or weapons, the promotion or facilitation of suicide, people smuggling and sexual exploitation.

Major changes to the draft bill include combating online fraud by bringing paid-for scam adverts on social media and search engines into scope.

It will also require all websites that publish or host pornography to “put robust checks in place to ensure users are 18 years old or over”. However, DCMS does not elaborate on what these “robust checks” will entail.

Social media platforms will also be required to give its users the ability to block people who have not verified their identity on the platform, and provide options to opt out of seeing harmful content.

Finally, the bill will also criminalise the act of cyberflashing, where offenders send unsolicited sexual images to others through social media, dating apps or over data sharing services.

Will the Online Safety Bill be effective?

Reactions to the Online Safety Bill have been mixed, with some groups welcoming it while others warn it could still have loopholes.

Commenting on the bill, Thomas Rudkin, reputational management lawyer at Farrer & Co, said: “The message is one of more accountability for Big Tech, set against an admirable desire to ensure legitimate freedom of expression is preserved.

“This is not an easy balance, and the proof will be in the pudding, namely the way in which the final version of the legislation is applied.”

Olivia DeRamus, an advocate for sexual assault survivors and founder of the Restless Network, said: “Putting more legal responsibility on social media platforms, search engines and other websites or apps which host user-generated content will help to tackle distress from harmful or illegal content.

“With the new laws in place, protection from abuse will finally be the top priority for everyone, disenabling this abusive behaviour that’s dominated our digital lives. There is still much to do to tackle online abuse, but this is one huge step in the right direction.”

However, Hacked Off, a campaign for a free and accountable press, raised concerns that the bill’s exemption of any news content could allow extremist publications to take advantage of it.

Nathan Sparkes, chief executive of the campaign, said that this will result in individuals’ social media accounts being regulated more than those belonging to national newspapers, describing it as “unfair, irrational and likely to undermine the entire bill”.

“These exemptions render the bill weak, irrational and ultimately incapable of protecting the public from online harms,” he added. “Damaged legislation like this is the price paid by the public for this government’s unhealthy relationship with the press.”