Ofcom to be put in charge of regulating internet content in UK

The UK's Ofcom will be put in charge of regulating the internet, the government has announced, with a new range of powers intended to protect users from “harmful and illegal content” online. The regulations are broadly focused on two new sets of requirements. One, around illegal content, will see platforms hit with new targets to ensure that such content is removed quickly, ideally prevented from being posted in the first place, with a particular focus on terrorist and child sexual abuse content. The second set of requirements, which attempt to minimise the distribution of “harmful” content, such as that which encourages or glorifies self-harm or suicide, focuses instead on putting a requirement on large online platforms to better enforce their own terms of service. The goal is that platforms which say they remove such content, and are thus safe for children to be active on, are held to that promise; while platforms that focus on free speech over safety are equally clear about objectives. Those new regulations will only apply to companies that allow the sharing of user-generated content, the government says.