Upcoming powers in legislation regulating online spaces will force Big Tech companies to give bereaved parents as well as coroners the content of their dead children’s accounts, according to the UK government. The government wants to add an amendment to the Online Safety Bill which will help to access information held by tech companies that…

Internet users who encourage self-harm could be jailed for up to five years, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said. Additions to the Online Safety Bill will make it a crime to encourage someone to cause serious self-harm, regardless of whether or not victims go on to injure themselves. The offence will add to existing…

Bosses of social media companies could be jailed if they fail to remove “misogynistic” content, under an amendment to the Online Safety Bill. The amendment—backed by a cross-party group of lords led by former Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan—would mean companies that fail to remove abusive misogynistic content and ban repeat offenders would face fines, while…

Violent pornography has a strong influence on children who go on to commit sexual abuse, according to a new report from the Children’s Commissioner, who is calling for age verification as an “urgent priority” in upcoming legislation. A report released on Tuesday by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, found that acts of…

Seven of the world’s leading messaging apps have written a scathing open letter to the UK government over its proposed Online Safety Bill. Bosses from firms including Signal and WhatsApp say the bill would lead to the mass surveillance of personal communications in what would become the “British internet.” Urging ministers to “urgently rethink” the…

The British Culture Secretary has confirmed plans under new online safety laws that will make tech executives and managers criminally liable for children’s duty of care failures. Last week, Conservative MPs backed an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that would introduce powers to jail tech bosses. Former cabinet ministers, including ex-home secretary Priti Patel…

Tory MPs are planning an amendment to the Online Safety Bill that would make tech executives criminally liable for children’s duty of care failures. Conservative MP Miriam Cates and other MPs including Sir William Cash, Andrea Leadsom, Julian Lewis, Lia Nici, Tim Loughton, Lee Anderson, and former Home Secretary Priti Patel are backing an amendment (pdf)…

The UK government has watered down powers in its legislation regulating online spaces but some free speech advocates still fear the bill is a “censor’s charter.” On Tuesday, the government announced that “legal but harmful” duties are being replaced in the Online Safety Bill, with culture secretary Michelle Donelan saying they would have “stifled” free speech….

Online encouragement of self-harm will be criminalised under an updated version of the Online Safety Bill, the UK government has said. Culture secretary Michelle Donelan said the update would create a new offence that would target communications that encourage someone to physically harm themselves, making it illegal to do so, and bringing it in line…

Sharing “downblouse” images and pornographic “deepfakes” without consent could be criminalised in England and Wales. On Friday, the government announced that it will put forward an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, which would criminalise the sharing of a person’s intimate images without their consent. This includes those who share “deepfakes,” or explicit images or…