UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle has written to the country’s media and telecommunications regulator Ofcom, asking it to implement what he said are “key components” of the Online Safety Act.
These components of the legislation – also known as the UK’s online censorship law – will come into effect by the end of 2024, Kyle noted in his letter to Ofcom Chief Executive Melanie Dawes.
Kyle urged Ofcom to implement these rules as a matter of urgency – Dawes is reminded that the government views this as “incredibly important” and something that needs to be implemented “as soon as possible” by the regulator.
The letter also reveals that these officials already had meetings dedicated to the issue – a “discussion” that Kyle said he wants to continue in order to see how the government can “support Ofcom in delivering on this ambition.”
The need for this to happen is explained by the secretary of state as necessary in making sure that services covered by Ofcom are held responsible for delivering “products safe for their users.”
Kyle cites illegal harms and child safety codes as more “protections” that will be finalized next year, which include age verification (“age-checks”). Internet users, and children in particular, will then, according to Kyle, be protected from a flurry of horrors: he mentions suicide, self-harm, pornography, terrorism, “hate speech,” misogyny, and harassment.
Other than age verification, this is to be achieved by forcing platforms to “quickly take down” content the codes treat as harmful.
Kyle then goes into the UK’s summer riots in order to press Ofcom regarding the possibility of the agency introducing additional censorship measures to combat the spread of “misinformation.”
Dawes is asked whether Ofcom is now considering new “targeted measures” that can be included in the next version of the illegal harms code.
The UK government continues to put the emphasis on the spread of “disinformation” as the key problem behind the riots, and Ofcom is now quizzed by Kyle regarding its assessment “about how illegal content, particularly disinformation, spread during the period of disorder.”
Another thing Kyle considers to be very important is the Advisory Committee on Disinformation and Misinformation, a body Ofcom is setting up under the Online Safety Act rules.
And the secretary of state is “looking forward” to learning how this is proceeding – “and what its key areas of focus are likely to be following the events of this summer.”
