The draft of the UK's Online Safety Bill has been published.
The Bill is designed to protect users of online content-sharing platforms from harmful material and it broadly follows the government's full consultation response published in December 2020. It contains, however, a few controversial late entries, particularly in relation to user-generated online scams and additional protections for political speech.
This long-awaited bill is every bit as radical as was promised
Ashley Hurst was interviewed by the FT's consumer editor, Claer Barrett, on what measures the Bill includes to tackle growing levels of financial fraud including 'romance fraud'.
Here is the full article: UK proposes new powers to fight soaring financial fraud including Ashley's comment:
“This long-awaited bill is every bit as radical as was promised, going well beyond what the European Commission intends to regulate through the EU Digital Services Act. By extending the bill to cover user-generated online scams such as romance fraud, the government has opened up a seismic can of worms that will see very lively debate once it eventually reaches Parliament, particularly given the massive 10 per cent of turnover fines at stake.”
The Bill has potentially significant implications for online platforms and Osborne Clarke has produced some insights into the Bill's proposals.
Osborne Clarke's international Online Safety team is following legislative developments in numerous jurisdictions, including at a European level through the Digital Services Act.
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