UK online censorship laws come into force

Britain could soon fine social media giants up to 10% of their annual earnings for failing to remove illegal content

Britain’s newest online censorship law came into force on Monday, as the country’s telecoms regulator published a list of content that social media platforms must remove to avoid multi-million-pound fines.

Ofcom, the British government’s media and telecommunications watchdog, published a set of guidelines that platforms like Meta, Google, and TikTok must comply with by March or risk punishment under the Online Safety Act, which was passed in 2023.

The guidelines list a range of 130 illegal acts that these platforms must forbid and prevent, including incitement to terrorism, human trafficking, and the sharing of child sexual abuse material.

Also prohibited is the “stirring up of racial hatred” or “hatred on the basis of religion or sexual orientation,” which although ill-defined are already illegal under British law.

Some offenses are “complex,” Ofcom wrote. “They may be more about a series of interactions between users, or may involve behavior that takes place partly offline, or may involve thinking about the nature, identity or age of one or more of the users concerned.”

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An early draft of the Online Safety Act included a clause banning certain “legal but harmful” content. However, this passage was pulled from the bill last year after then Business and Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch complained that it amounted to “legislating for hurt feelings.”

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Keir Starmer reportedly considered reinserting the controversial clause after a wave of anti-immigration and anti-Islam rioting swept the UK in August, but ultimately decided not to, according to a spokesperson from his office.

Companies who fail to comply with Ofcom’s new rules may be fined up to 10% of their global annual revenue, to a maximum of £18 million ($22.8 million). For repeat offenders, individual managers could face jail time, while Ofcom could seek a court order to block access to a platform in the UK.

According to Ofcom, the rules will apply to more than 100,000 companies from around the world, from the largest social media platforms to “very small” providers of entertainment, dating, gambling, and other online services.