The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, which investigated the law in the wake of the Southport riots, said internet users were being exposed to large volumes of harmful and misleading content “which can deceive, damage mental health, normalise extremist views, undermine democracy, and fuel violence”.
MPs in the committee concluded that the Act failed to keep UK citizens “safe from a core and pervasive online harm”.
Many safety campaigners think the rules simply don’t go far enough and that Ofcom has been far too cautious. A former cabinet minister tells me: “I just don’t understand their lack of pace or urgency.”
It took years to get the Online Safety Act passed as law in the first place. Parliament spent a long time grappling with real dilemmas – especially how to protect fundamental rights of free speech and privacy.
Then Ofcom took many months to write the codes of practice that have come into force over time. They wanted to create rules that were practical for the tech platforms themselves.
One industry source says Ofcom had been “sensible and grown-up”, and while the rules weren’t “revolutionary” they were important, positioning the UK between tighter regulations in the EU and a more lax regime in the US.
However you look at it, these new laws have been a very, very long time coming. And while Whitehall has been grinding along, technology, and the kinds of experiences we all have online, has been racing ahead.
Who had really heard of AI five years ago? Many sources I’ve spoken to question now if the way the whole system has been designed is the right one.
The former minister I spoke to said it was a “category error” to regulate the internet in this way, questioning whether Ofcom was the right body to do the job.
But ultimately, Ofcom can only work within the laws MPs set.
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