Websites to face GDPR-style fines over 'online harms'

Online Harms White Paper intended to tackle "illegal and unacceptable content"

The government is proposing new GDPR-style laws to fine websites over "harmful online content" in a bid to make the UK "the safest place in the world to go online".

The proposal were released today in the governments Online Harms White Paper [PDF].

"Given the prevalence of illegal and harmful content online, and the level of public concern about online harms, not just in the UK but worldwide, we believe that the digital economy urgently needs a new regulatory framework to improve our citizens' safety online," the white paper argues.

We believe that the digital economy urgently needs a new regulatory framework to improve our citizens' safety online

The white paper is intended to tackle a number of "problems". These include:

• "Illegal and unacceptable content and activity" that is "widespread online", and that "threatens our national security or the physical safety of children";
• Terrorist groups using the internet "to spread propaganda designed to radicalise vulnerable people" and to "distribute material designed to aid or abet terrorist attacks". This points to the recent terrorist attack in Christchurch, where the attackers broadcast their attack live using social media;
• Child sex offenders using the internet to share videos and images, and grooming children online;
• "Hostile actors" using "online disinformation to undermine our democratic values and principles", as well as social media platforms' "algorithms [leading] to ‘echo chambers' or ‘filter bubbles', where a user is presented with only one type of content instead of seeing a range of voices and opinions";
• The use of online platforms by criminal gangs "to promote gang culture and incite violence", as well as "the illegal sale of weapons to young people online"; and,
• "Other online behaviours or content, even if they may not be illegal in all circumstances, can also cause serious harm". In particular, it cites online harassment, bullying and intimidation, and the potential for "young adults or children" to be "exposed to harmful content [such as] self-harm or suicide".

The white paper is intended to set-out a programme of action to tackle these problems. Paradoxically, perhaps, the paper's vision is for a "free, open and secure internet" supporting "freedom of expression online", but an online environment in which "companies take effective steps to keep their users safe".

These measures will be backed up by an independent regulator given the power to levy swingeing fines, Jeremy Wright, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, suggested in interviews today.

"If you look at the fines available to the Information Commissioner around the GDPR rules, that could be up to four per cent of company's turnover… we think we should be looking at something comparable here," Wright told the BBC.

He added that "voluntary actions" taken so far haven't been enough, and was backed-up by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who claimed that internet companies had a moral duty "to protect the young people they profit from. Despite our repeated calls to action, harmful and illegal content - including child abuse and terrorism - is still too readily available online".

The independent regulator proposed in the white paper would be "funded by industry in the medium term," according to the white paper, although "the government is exploring options such as fees, charges or a levy to put it on a sustainable footing".

The paper added that the new laws introduced following on from the white paper would be compatible with the EU's e-Commerce Directive.

However, it also represents a major ratcheting up of the legal environment for the internet compared with October 2017's Internet Safety Green Paper.

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