Facebook, Twitter and TikTok face fines of up to 10% of turnover
if they fail to remove and limit the spread of illegal content under laws
proposed by Britain.
LONDON (Reuters) -
Facebook, Twitter
and TikTok face fines of up to 10% of turnover if they fail to remove and limit
the spread of illegal content under laws proposed by Britain on Tuesday.
Tech platforms will also need to do more to protect children from being exposed
to grooming, bullying and pornography, the government said, to ensure the
safety of children online.
"We are
entering a new age of accountability for tech to protect children and
vulnerable users, to restore trust in this industry, and to enshrine in law
safeguards for free speech," Britain's Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden
said.
Governments
globally are wrestling over measures to better control illegal or dangerous
content on social media, with the European Union set to unveil its own package
on Tuesday.
Britain's new
rules, which will be introduced in legislation next year, could lead to sites
which break the rules being blocked and senior managers held liable for
content.
Popular platforms
will be required to have clear policies for content that, while not illegal,
could cause harm such as disseminating misinformation about COVID
vaccines.
Dowden said the
framework would give large digital businesses "robust rules" to follow.
Facebook and
Google said in February they would work with the government on the regulations.
Both companies said they took safety extremely seriously and they had already
changed their policies and operations to better tackle the issue.
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