This week, the government became one of the first in the world to announce a comprehensive regime for online safety - binding social media companies to a new legal duty of care. If they fail to protect their users from harmful content, including antisemitism, companies will face steep fines of up to £18 million, or 10 percent of annual global turnover - whichever is highest.
Combatting antisemitism is a priority in our legislation. Platforms will have to react swiftly to antisemitic hate crimes, and remove illegal content without delay. They will also have to enforce their own stated bans on anti-semitic content that might not reach the level of criminality both transparently and effectively. The biggest companies will be required to publish annual transparency reports to track their progress. If they are found to be dragging their feet, they will face the legal consequences.
At the same time we are working to make sure the law is fit to tackle digital crimes. A recent review by my department and the Law Commission found that it needed updating to cover online abuse, including coordinated harassment by groups of people - aka “pile-ons”. The Law Commission is set to provide its final recommendations for action early in the New Year, and we will carefully consider whether we should use our forthcoming Online Harms legislation to bring those recommendations into law.
As MP for Hertsmere, I’m proud to represent one of the largest Jewish communities in the country. Under our proposals, they and every other person in the UK will be safer when they log on.
Oliver Dowden MP is Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
