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The UK has rolled out its new Online Safety Act, giving tech giants such as Meta, Google, and TikTok three months to remove harmful content from their platforms. Companies face million-dollar fines and possible blockades if they do not comply with the stipulations.
The United Kingdom has decided to dot the i’s with the tech giants. As of this Monday, Meta, Google, and TikTok have an ultimatum: three months to clean their platforms of negative and harmful content or face million-dollar fines and possible blocks.
Ofcom, the commission and, so to speak, the British guardian of communications, is going all out. They have published codes of practice, an instruction manual for technology companies to get their act together against terrorism, hatred, fraud, and child sexual abuse on the internet.
The new Online Safety Law forces technology companies to take responsibility for everything that is uploaded and shared on their applications.
Specifically, companies have until March 16, 2025, to clean up all the “garbage.” They will need to improve content moderation, facilitate reporting, and create stronger security systems.
No one is spared: Big Tech will have to have more transparent whistleblowing systems
Melanie Dawes, the head of Ofcom, has made it clear that they will be watching them with a magnifying glass. “We will be watching the industry closely to ensure that companies are meeting the strict safety standards set out for them in our first codes and guidance, with further requirements to follow quickly in the first half of next year.”
Fines can reach up to 10% of the global income of companies; in extreme cases, managers could end up in jail, and Ofcom could ask for the total blocking of a service, although it is clarified that this will happen in the United Kingdom.
On the other hand, Peter Kyle, the British Minister for Technology, has made it clear: “If the platforms do not step forward, the regulator has my support to use all its powers, including imposing fines and requesting the courts to block access to the sites.”
Taking the United Kingdom as a reference, the whole world is probably watching. Will social networks manage to get their act together? Will this be the beginning of the end of free will on these platforms? The countdown has begun, and the big tech companies have three months to prove it.
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