Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
It does seem odd that they've announced this, but not the penalties that websites can expect for non compliance.
There's rumours that it will be enforced by way of a fine of up to a million pounds and the site being blocked, but nothing official yet.
I hope that they will take into account the turnover of any sites found to be in breach. A million pounds is nothing to the likes of Facebook, but would be detrimental to a small local community site (who may well not have the support of backend legal staff etc).
|
That's because they don't exist yet.
From your link...
Quote:
The intention is that government sets the direction of the policy but gives Ofcom the freedom to draw up and adapt the details. By doing this, the watchdog should have the ability to tackle new online threats as they emerge without the need for further legislation.
A full response will be published in the spring.
|
And from the bottom of the article
Quote:
In many countries, social media platforms are permitted to regulate themselves, as long as they adhere to local laws on illegal material.
Germany introduced the NetzDG Law in 2018, which states that social media platforms with more than two million registered German users have to review and remove illegal content within 24 hours of being posted or face fines of up to €50m (£42m).
Australia passed the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material Act in April 2019, introducing criminal penalties for social media companies, possible jail sentences for tech executives for up to three years and financial penalties worth up to 10% of a company's global turnover.
|
And this is
Ofcom's response
Quote:
We share the Government’s ambition to keep people safe online and welcome that it is minded to appoint Ofcom as the online harms regulator.
We will work with the Government to help ensure that regulation provides effective protection for people online and, if appointed, will consider what voluntary steps can be taken in advance of legislation.
|
In summary -
They haven't done anything, the Government are minded to appoint Ofcom to do this (but haven't yet), but if they do, Ofcom will work with providers to put together voluntary guidelines until new laws come in, when ever that is.
Much ado about very little action, just saying that things might happen...