Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to accept the demands of party rebels to make directors at major technology firms liable to greater penalties if they fail to protect children from dangerous online content as he seeks to avoid a damaging defeat in parliament, according to two people familiar with the government’s plans.
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to accept the demands of party rebels to make directors at major technology firms liable to greater penalties if they fail to protect children from dangerous online content as he seeks to avoid a damaging defeat in parliament, according to two people familiar with the government’s plans.
Sunak’s partial climbdown on key legislation came in the face of a planned rebellion from within his ruling Conservative Party, with about 50 Tory lawmakers supporting an amendment designed to toughen the Online Safety Bill.
Sunak, who’s built his pitch to UK voters around boosting investment in the UK, had intended to limit criminal sanctions to executives who refused to cooperate with information requests or investigations from media regulator Ofcom. Tory rebels, who had the backing of the opposition Labour Party, are demanding two-year jail terms for directors who breach their legal duties to shield children from content promoting abuse, suicide or self-harm.
The government will give an initial indication of the shift in approach when the bill is debated Tuesday but is unlikely to set out the penalties in detail until later when the legislation reaches the upper House of Lords, one of the officials said, adding that the new measures would most likely only apply when bosses deliberately choose to ignore enforcement action by the regulator.
A spokeswoman for Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan declined to comment. Junior minister Paul Scully is expected to lay out the government’s plans on Tuesday.
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The legislation sets out new powers that will let Ofcom fine or sanction tech companies if they don’t follow new rules aimed at protecting people online. Those include such as being more transparent about risk assessments, enforcing their own terms and conditions, and heeding age limits and checks.
The bill — in development for almost six years, under seven Conservative secretaries of state — is aimed at curbing harms on any site or app which lets users interact, from social media to search engines. An impact assessment by the government last year estimated it will apply to more than 25,000 services.
Sunak has already backed down various times since taking office in October, in the face of several potential rebellions on planning reform and onshore wind proposals.
–With assistance from Thomas Seal.
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