UK joins backlash against tech companies that fail to curb illegal activity

The UK joins global backlash against tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter that fail to delete illegal content on their platforms.

The government is ready to propose fines and bans through an industry-funded regulator that would police the technology companies’ platforms for harmful content such as incitement to terrorism or child exploitation.

The UK government opened a 12-week consultation on Monday which would follow Theresa May’s pledge to hold the companies accountable for the illegal content that appears on their pages.

More regions supporting similar proposals are Australia and the European Union. Last week, Australia passed legislation that included potential prison sentences of up to three years for executives who fail to remove abhorrent material from their platforms.

EU lawmakers on the other hand are voting on Monday over rules for online terrorism content to make platforms increasingly liable for what their users post.

The UK Institute of Economic Affairs opposed the EU proposals, claiming they were “draconian” and more likely to do harm and hold back innovation.

Conservative MP Damian Collins and chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, cited the recent terrorist attack in New Zealand as a reason for introducing regulation.

“A regulator should have the power to investigate how content of that atrocity was shared and why more was not done to stop it sooner,” he said.

Zuckerberg, who blamed the Christchurch mosque attacks on “bad actors” and not bad technology, said that a time delay on livestreams would affect the enjoyment of viewers of harmless content such as birthdays or hangouts.