Britain will not force tech companies to remove content that is "legal but harmful" from them platforms after activists and lawmakers raised concerns that the move could limit free speech, the government said on Monday. Reuters he says:
Οι νόμοι για την ασφάλεια στο διαδίκτυο θα επικεντρωθούν στην προστασία των παιδιών και στη διασφάλιση ότι οι εταιρείες θα αφαιρούν περιεχόμενο που είναι παράνομο ή απαγορευμένο στους όρους παροχής υπηρεσιών τους, αναφέρει η κυβέρνηση προσθέτοντας ότι δεν θα διευκρινίζει ποιο θα είναι το νόμιμο περιεχόμενο που πρέπει να λογοκρίνεται. Στις εταιρείες, όπως η Meta και το Twitter, will be prohibited from removing or restricting user-generated content, suspending user accounts, where there is no infringement of the terms of service or the law, it said.
The previous law required social media companies to be fined up to 10% of turnover, or around $22 million, if they failed to remove harmful content, while senior executives could also face criminal fines.
The proposed legislation, which was already long delayed before the latest version, would remove state influence over how private companies manage legal content, the government said, and avoid the risk of them removing legal publications to avoid penalties.
The revised internet safety bill, which returns to parliament next month, allows tech companies to remove content that violates their terms of service and enforce age limits to prevent children from bypassing screening methods identity.
If users come across controversial content such as racism, anti-Semitism or misogyny that is not criminally punishable, the platform should offer tools to help adult users avoid it. Only if platforms fail to comply with their own terms of service or remove criminal content could they be fined up to 10% of annual turnover.
Britain late on Saturday announced another new criminal offence, that of aiding or abetting self-harm online, would be included in the bill.