New Digital Safety Laws Will Penalize Social Media Apps If They Don’t Implement Safeguards Against Illegal Content

Social media apps are all set to face major fines if they don’t add robust measures in the United Kingdom to protect users from online dangers. This includes child abuse, terrorist activities, fraud, and illegal material.

Therefore, all digital giants are being cautioned to keep this warning in mind and put an end or face the consequences in the form of hefty fines. From Monday onwards, all websites and apps within the scope of the Online Safety Act will feature more than 100k services linked to Reddit, Google, X, and Facebook. Therefore, everyone would need to take the right measures to stop the spread of such content or remove it after going online. The

Tech secretary explained how the crackdown against illegal material was just the start. In recent times, tech giants continue to treat safety as an afterthought. This will be changing starting today.

Companies breaching the law could face a penalization of 10% of their global revenue which is millions of pounds belonging to Google and Meta. In severe cases, some of their services might be removed as a whole.

Ofcom shared more on this front including how there will be a new code of conduct published for tech giants to follow to avoid breaching laws. This act will enlist 130 priority offenses that tech giants tackle by making sure moderation systems are equipped to deal with the matter.

The codes of conduct entail disguising kids’ online profiles and locations through default means from people they’re not aware of. It also means saying hello to steps that give women more power to block and mute others harassing them online or stalking them.

Creating a new reporting channel for companies can deal with fraud cases better and use hash matching tech that identifies illegal content. It can even highlight scams and terrorist activities while removing revenge porn and explicit graphics at the same time.

Last year, tech giants were warned about a lack of safeguards in place to follow this act. They had yet to introduce all the right steps to keep kids protected and adults safe from online dangers. Most of the safety measures rolled out by the watchdog weren’t getting implemented by the biggest apps and those carrying the most risk.

Ofcom shared how it would be requesting online storage services to highlight what steps were taken to stop pedophiles from rolling out child abuse material through the apps. Any firm that fails to respond or appears to not have the right measures in place could face serious scrutiny.

For a while now, the Online Safety Act has been in the line of criticism by US lawmakers including JD Vance that says free speech in the UK failed to exist and was a retreat. But the UK is very determined that this law will not be bargained or considered a topic for discussion with Trump’s administration.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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