Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government is thinking about ways to strengthen internet safety laws in the United Kingdom after false information triggered a wave of anti-immigration demonstrations and X owner Elon Musk made inflammatory remarks in posts that were seen by millions of people, according to a CNBC report.
TakeAway Points:
- The Labour administration is reportedly exploring a revision of the Online Safety Act, which requires social media companies to address illegal content, according to two industry individuals with knowledge of the situation.
- Prominent officials also stated emphatically that the government will examine the Online Safety Act to strengthen its prohibitions on hate speech, disinformation, and incitement to violence.
- It follows a wave of far-right riots around the nation that were triggered by false information and provocative remarks made by Elon Musk, the owner of X.
Online Safety Act to be revisited
Following the events of the last two weeks, Labour is reportedly considering a review of the Online Safety Act, a piece of legislation that forces digital companies to stop the spread of harmful and illegal content on their platforms, according to two industry people with knowledge of the situation.
In recent days, senior government officials have stated that a review of the Online Safety Act is being considered to strengthen regulations against hate speech, disinformation, and incitement to violence.
“There are obviously aspects of the Online Safety Act that haven’t come into effect yet. We stand ready to make changes if necessary,” Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for the Cabinet Office, told Sky News.
The media and telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has been unable to act against social media platforms for allowing hate speech and other content that would violate the law because the legislation hasn’t fully come into force yet.
The need for change
Two weeks ago, in the English town of Southport in Merseyside, a 17-year-old knifeman attacked a number of kids attending a dance lesson with a Taylor Swift theme. The attack claimed the lives of three girls.
Social media users mistakenly identified the attacker as an asylum seeker who came to the United Kingdom by boat in 2023, shortly after the attack.
Posts on X using the fictitious name of the offender were widely shared and seen by millions of people. This in turn contributed to the emergence of far-right anti-immigration demonstrations, which later became violent, resulting in attacks on stores and mosques as well as the hurling of bricks and petrol bombs.
As the riots raged on, Musk, who owns X, began making comments about the situation in the U.K. He suggested the riots could end up resulting in a civil war, saying in an X post: “Civil war is inevitable.” His comments have been condemned by the U.K. government.
When questioned during a press briefing about Musk’s remarks, the official spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that there was “no justification” for such statements.
Musk also shared an image of a fake headline that was made to look like it had come from “The Telegraph” newspaper’s website, falsely claiming the U.K. was building “detainment camps” on the Falkland Islands for rioters. He has since deleted it.
These events have sparked calls for the government to revisit the Online Safety Act to ensure it is implemented faster and that there are provisions to ensure it is more effective to prevent such events from happening in the future.
Areas of possible change in the Online Safety Act
The sources have not disclosed how the Online Safety Act will be revisited.
“I don’t think much policy thinking has been done yet here,” the source added.
New measures on disinformation are likely to be looked at, among a few other options; however, the government hasn’t come to any “concrete views” on how the legislation should change yet.
A second industry source said that the government is likely to review the legislation only once it is in force, likely in spring 2025. “I think this is a way of sounding tough but putting off a difficult decision,” they said. “It’s by no means an easy fix. It’s incredibly hard to do.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, which is responsible for overseeing online safety regulations, said:
“The internet cannot be a haven for those seeking to sow division in our communities.”
“Once fully implemented, the Online Safety Act will require platforms to take action to address illegal content. The Act will also require the biggest platforms to enforce their own terms of service, including where these prohibit the spreading of misinformation,” the spokesperson said.
“Our immediate focus is getting the Online Safety Act implemented quickly and effectively. However, our message to social media companies remains clear: there is no need to wait—you can and should take immediate action to protect your users,” the spokesperson added.
About the Online Safety Act
The Online Safety Act is a landmark piece of legislation in the U.K. that seeks to force social networks and video streaming media companies to rid their platforms of illegal content.
The rule imposes additional obligations on tech businesses, mandating that they actively detect, reduce, and oversee the potential risks of harm resulting from the appearance of such content on their platforms.
A firm could face criminal penalties for a number of different types of information, should it be disclosed. These consist of terrorism, fraud, offences motivated by race or religion, child sex abuse, and inciting violence.
Once the rules take effect, Ofcom would have the power to levy fines of as much as 10% of companies’ global annual revenues for breaches. In cases where repeat breaches occur, individual senior managers could even face jail time.
Ofcom has said the new duties on tech firms won’t fully come into force until 2025, once it’s finished consulting on codes of conduct for the companies.
