The UK Online Safety Bill - new measures to protect digital users - but questions remain

The Bill will apply to “user-to-user” and “search” services that have links to the UK. It will introduce obligations intended to protect individuals from illegal material as well as legal but harmful content online. Companies caught by the legislation will need to take stock of the requirements and may need to implement practical changes to their systems and controls to ensure adherence.

Ofcom will have powers to impose significant penalties on relevant companies for breaches of the regime and the Bill introduces individual accountability that may lead to personal, criminal liability for senior managers where they fail to take all reasonable steps to prevent their company from committing certain information offences.

For more on this development please see our article here.