Key Facts

• Amendments 10, 14, 25, 19, 20, 26, 18, 21, 30, and 31 are discussed.
• Clause 64 mandates annual transparency reports from larger companies to Ofcom.
• The transparency report covers the incidence of illegal content, harmful content for children and adults.
• The Bill includes a requirement for platforms to consider illegal content 'by means of the service'.
• Clause 8(5)(d) requires services to risk-assess functionalities that facilitate the presence or dissemination of illegal content.
• Ofcom will provide guidance on how companies can comply with these duties, including measures related to senior-level engagement.
• Amendments 18, 21, 30, and 31 address aspects of online safety measures.
• The Bill obliges service providers to take comprehensive measures against CSEA content.
• Ofcom can intervene if service providers do not engage in appropriate collaborative behaviour.
• The Bill does not capture the range of ways child abusers use social networks.
• In Q1 2021, there were 6 million interactions with accounts used for connecting abusers.
• Abusers exploit features like Facebook’s algorithmic friend suggestions to contact children before moving communication to other platforms.
• The amendments seek to ensure regulated companies' boards or senior staff have responsibility for illegal content risk assessments.
• Amendments proposed include requirements to consider cross-platform risk and content which could facilitate or aid the discovery or dissemination of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) content.
• Amendment 28 seeks to require regulated services to assess their level of risk based on blocking and detecting CSEA content.
• Clause 8 of the Bill requires risk assessments to cover priority illegal content, including CSEA offences listed in schedule 6.
• The government believes clause 59 already mandates reporting CSEA content detected by platforms to the National Crime Agency.
• Amendment 15 proposes a duty for the children's risk assessment to be approved by either the board or a named senior manager.
• Amendment 27 requires the children’s risk assessment to consider the production of illegal content.
• Amendments 16 and 13 propose similar duties in clause 25 as those proposed in clause 10.
• Clause 10 introduces a duty for user-to-user services likely to be accessed by children to conduct risk assessments.
• The Joint Committee recommended that the risk assessment should be approved at board level, which was rejected by the Government.
• In October 2021, 60 child protection organisations urged Meta to publish its risk assessments but were refused.
• The Philippines is identified as a hotspot for livestreamed child sexual abuse and the UK is the third-largest consumer of such abuse globally.
• The Bill includes an obligation for platforms to reduce risk of illegal content, including user-generated content.
• Search firms must prevent users from finding illegal content.
• Companies can be fined up to 10% of global revenue or disconnected if they fail to protect children.
• Governance arrangements are covered in clause 10(6)(h) and require Ofcom approval.
• Companies like Meta (Facebook) have a global turnover exceeding $71.5 billion.
• The Bill includes personal criminal liability for information provision, with up to two years' imprisonment.
• Fines can reach up to $7 billion per set of breaches.
• Clause 64 mandates annual transparency reports by Ofcom.
• Amendments 72, 73, 74, and 75 address intersectionality issues.
• Amendment 71 requires Ofcom to assess risks of harm affecting people with certain characteristics or membership in groups as part of its risk register.
• The amendments aim to ensure that the Bill considers increased vulnerability arising from being a member of multiple high-risk groups.
• Amendments aim to protect children from sexual and physical abuse through online services.
• Amendment 29 is proposed in clause 11, page 10, line 20.
• Amendment 33 is proposed in clause 26, page 26, line 18.
• UK law enforcement received 97,727 industry reports relating to online child abuse in 2021, a 29% increase from the previous year.
• Online grooming offences reached record levels in England and Wales in 2020-21.
• The number of sexual communications with a child offences in England and Wales increased by almost 70% in three years.
• Amendment 12 creates a duty to publish the adults' risk assessment.
• The amendment requires proactive supply of the risk assessment to Ofcom.
• Amendment 46 seeks to clarify that users should be able to determine whether other users are verified or not.
• Amendment 47 proposes adding a definition for 'Identity Verification' to the terms defined in the Online Safety Bill.
• OFCOM must produce guidance on user identity verification for providers of Category 1 services.
• The guidance must address effectiveness, privacy and security, accessibility, time-frames for disclosure to Law Enforcement, transparency, and user appeal mechanisms.
• Before producing the guidance, OFCOM must consult the Information Commissioner, Digital Markets Unit, technologically expert persons, and user representatives.
• Amendment 46 aims to empower people to use information about verification to make judgments about account reliability.
• Clause 14 of the Bill requires platforms to enable adult users to filter out non-verified accounts.
• The Minister contends that clause 14(6) already enables users to see who is verified when filtering non-verified users.
• Amendment 105 seeks to insert language into Clause 15 about ensuring the safety of people involved in UK elections.
• Amendment 106 proposes OFCOM issuing a code of practice for providers of Category 1 and 2(a) services regarding compliance with election safety duties.
• The amendments aim to strengthen protections for democratic processes through legal obligations on service providers.
• MPs receive over 7,000 abusive or hate-filled tweets per month.
• The University of Salford study from 2020 found high levels of abuse directed at MPs on Twitter.
• Two Members of Parliament have been murdered in the last six years due to online threats.
• MPs face significant levels of abuse on social media platforms.
• The Online Safety Bill includes duties for social media firms to remove illegal content and prevent it proactively.
• Clause 150 updates the Malicious Communications Act, creating a new harmful communications offence.
• Clause 16 stand part is discussed.
• New Clause 7 requires a report on the extent to which Category 1 services have fulfilled their duties under Clauses 15 and 16.
• The report must analyse the effectiveness against foreign state actors, extremist groups, and misinformation sources.
• The Secretary of State must lay the report before Parliament within one year of the Act being passed.
• Platforms are required to define 'journalistic' content, a task seen as unsuitable.
• Individuals could exploit the duties outlined by masquerading as journalists or claiming democratic importance.
• The Bill's definitions are broad and vague, potentially allowing hate speech under certain conditions.
• Far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson self-define as journalists to exploit loopholes.
• New clause 7 would require a report reviewing clauses 15 and 16 for effectiveness.
• Clauses 15 and 16 deal with content of democratic importance and journalistic importance respectively.
• Ofcom will issue codes of practice to specify how platforms should implement these provisions.
• The balancing exercise includes considerations around vile racism, antisemitism, or misogyny despite potential democratic context.
• OSB39 General Insurance.
• OSB40 Epilepsy Society.
• OSB41 Free Speech Union.
• OSB42 Graham Smith.
• OSB43 Center for Data Innovation.
• OSB44 Samaritans.
• OSB45 End Violence Against Women coalition, Glitch, Refuge, Carnegie UK, 5Rights, NSPCC and Professors Lorna Woods and Clare McGlynn (joint submission).
• OSB46 Sky.
• OSB47 Peter Wright, Editor Emeritus, DMG Media.
• OSB48 Graham Smith (further submission).
• OSB49 CARE (Christian Action Research and Education).
• OSB50 Age Verification Providers Association (supplementary submission).
• OSB51 Legal Advice Centre at Queen Mary, University of London and Mishcon de Reya LLP (joint submission).
• OSB52 Google UK (supplementary submission).
• OSB53 Refuge (supplementary submission).
• OSB54 Reset (supplementary submission).
• OSB55 Public Service Broadcasters (BBC, Channel 4, and Channel 5).
• OSB56 Which?.
• OSB57 Professor Corinne Fowler, School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester.
• OSB58 Independent Media Association.
• OSB59 Hacked Off Campaign.
• OSB60 Center for Countering Digital Hate.