What are the latest amendments to the online safety bill?
The Online Safety Bill (the Bill) is in its latter stages of becoming law and seeks to make the internet safer by regulating providers of user-to-user services to protect people from harmful and illegal content.
House of Lords amendments
The House of Lords has voted in favour of introducing changes to the Bill regarding the algorithms used by social media companies when pushing out content. The Government resisted saying that the amendments would only weaken and ultimately delay protections for children in the long run but lost by a majority of 72.
What are the amendments?
The amendments aim to prevent platforms from pushing harmful content to their users. Baroness Kidron, who backed the amendments, said social media companies need to be prevented from pushing children towards harmful content through their algorithms.
Baroness Kidron argued that while the Bill targeted content such as harmful posts on social media, it did not address the harm caused by how a company had designed its service. Peers have insisted that changes be made to social media algorithms so that ‘harmful’ content cannot be promoted.
She gave an example of Andrew Tate, a social media influencer who has been banned from numerous platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for his misogynistic views. 'Content neutral’ algorithms can deliberately push teenage boys to view Andrew Tate’s content “simply on the basis that 13-year old boys are like each other and one of them has already been on that site”. Baroness Kidron said, “to push hundreds of thousands of children towards Andrew Tate for no reason other than to benefit commercially from the network effect is a travesty for children, and it undermines parents.”
Positive responses to the amendments
The amendments have received the backing of several government ministers, such as Conservative peer Baroness Harding and Lib Dem peer Baroness Benjamin.
The Vice President of children’s charity Barnardo’s has also expressed support for the amendments saying they send a “loud, long message to the industry that they are responsible for the design of their products.”
Concerns with the amendments
Ofcom will be responsible for enforcing the Bill and has raised concerns that the amendments will add a layer of legal complexity.
The Internet Society, a charitable nonprofit organisation focused on Internet policy, technology and development, has also expressed concerns. Robin Wilton, the Internet Society’s director for Internet Trust, said that the amendments demonstrate the biggest problem with the Bill: it is too broad and tries to deal with too many issues at once. The result of this may be counterproductive and even undermine online safety.
What’s next for the Bill?
The Bill is set to go through its third reading in the House of Lords on 6 September 2023, which is a chance for members to make sure the eventual law is workable and without loopholes.
The Bill is likely to receive Royal Assent in Autumn 2023; however, it is not clear when the provisions will come into force as secondary legislation and Ofcom codes of practice will need to be introduced for the Bill to become fully operational. The Government has issued a guide to the Online Safety Bill. It explains the type of content the Bill covers, its enforceability measures, and its other workings and mechanics.
If you have any queries about anything in this article, please get in touch with Alex Craig using [email protected] or 0191 211 7911.