Britain Wants To Jail Social Media Managers Who Don't Censor to the Government's LikingTech firm operators may face criminal charges if children who use their platforms encounter too much “harmful content.”
SCOTT SHACKFORD
1.17.2023
United Kingdom leaders are pushing forward with a massive online censorship bill that, thanks to the lobbying of a group of lawmakers over the weekend, has been made significantly harsher with threats of imprisonment for tech platform managers who run afoul of the complicated regulations.
The Online Safety Bill has been under construction in the U.K. Parliament and various government committees for nearly a year. The massive bill (the current version spans 260 pages) establishes "duty of care" responsibilities for tech platforms to keep what the government deems "online harms" (which is broader than just violent or pornographic content) out of the view of children.
The bill flat-out forces platforms to serve as censors or face significant fines—£18 million ($22 million) or 10 percent of a company's global revenue, whichever is higher. The rules will be overseen by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the U.K. government's media regulator.
Reason has warned about this bill in the past, particularly given the country's willingness to use the law to punish people who say things the government deems "offensive." Last year, Joseph Kelley, a citizen of Glasgow, Scotland, tweeted out an insult of an elderly military veteran who had become a "national inspiration" for his resilience in accepting the coronavirus lockdowns (and later died of COVID-19 complications because he was unable to be vaccinated for health reasons). Kelley was prosecuted under a British law against "grossly offensive" messages and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.
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Source:
https://reason.com/2023/01/17/britain-wants-to-jail-social-media-managers-who-dont-censor-to-the-governments-liking/
