Social media giants will face 'severe punishments' if they fail to stop young children using their platforms, Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has warned.
The Online Safety Bill will tackle the "absurd situation" surrounding the enforcement of age limits on social media platforms."Protecting children is the fundamental reason why the Online Safety Bill was created, and so the changes I have made strengthen the child protection elements of the bill significantly," she wrote in the Telegraph."Some platforms claim not to allow children, but simultaneously have adverts targeting children.
Along with the changes to boost child safety online, controversial measures that would have forced social media sites to take down material designated "legal but harmful" are to be removed. There will now be a greater requirement for firms to provide adults with tools to hide certain content they do not wish to see - including types of content that do not meet the criminal threshold but could be harmful to see, such as the glorification of eating disorders, misogyny and some other forms of abuse.
However, shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said it was a "major weakening" of the bill, adding: "Replacing the prevention of harm with an emphasis on free speech undermines the very purpose of this bill, and will embolden abusers, Covid deniers, hoaxers, who will feel encouraged to thrive online."
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