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Online Safety Bill Won’t Stop “Insidious” Images of Abuse and Violence
The Commons culture committeee says the government’s proposed legislation is not robust enough.
Legislation in the draft online safety bill is not clear enough to protect the sharing of “insidious” images of child abuse and violence against women.
The government claims the bill will make the UK “the safest place in the world to be online” but the Commons culture committee says content which is still technically legal, such as deepfake pornography, needs to be addressed.
They went on to warn that images of violence and abuse could still be circulated online through “breadcrumbing” – where images are edited to avoid moderation.
MPs have said that more should be done to address activities that fall below the threshold of criminality but could be part of a chain of events formed in a sequence of abuse.
Julian Knight, the Conservative chair of the committee, said: “In its current form, what should be world-leading, landmark legislation instead represents a missed opportunity.
“The Online Safety Bill neither protects freedom of expression nor is it clear nor robust enough to tackle illegal and harmful online content.
“Urgency is required to ensure that some of the most pernicious forms of child sexual abuse do not evade detection because of a failure in the online safety law,” he added.
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The comments come following a previous report from parliamentarians in December when MPs and peers said that more offences – including paid-for scams and fraudulent advertising, cyberflashing, content promoting self-harm and the deliberate sending of flashing images to people with photosensitive epilepsy – need to be covered in the Online Safety Bill.
A spokesperson from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said it did not agree with the criticism from the Commons culture committee, saying the bill set a “global gold standard for internet safety”.
They added: “It has strict measures including a duty of care to stamp out child sexual abuse, grooming and illegal and harmful content.
“There are also stringent rules to make sure tech firms and Ofcom protect people’s free speech and privacy, so content is not taken down without good reason.”
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