Source · Select Committees · Petitions Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Rejected
Paragraph: 54
Abusive content hosted on smaller platforms can play a significant role in helping to encourage...
Recommendation
Abusive content hosted on smaller platforms can play a significant role in helping to encourage prejudicial attitudes or even real-world harm. Failure to address this content would risk significantly undermining the potential impact of the proposed online safety legislation in tackling online and offline hate. The duties set out in the Online Safety Bill relating to content that is legal but harmful to adults must apply to a wide enough range of platforms to ensure that abusive content is removed from the online sphere, not merely shifted from larger platforms onto smaller ones subject to less regulatory oversight.
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation to apply duties for legal but harmful content to a wider range of platforms, arguing that it is not appropriate to require removal of legal content and that the current proportionate categorisation focuses on high-reach Category 1 services.
Paragraph Reference:
54
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
We thank the Committee for this recommendation. An overarching principle of the Bill is to ensure that what is unacceptable offline is also unacceptable online. This is why all in-scope services will be required to tackle illegal content and ensure any children using their services are protected from harm. Recognising the influence of larger platforms, the Bill also introduces a categorisation approach to ensure the most used services are accountable to their users. Services providing high-risk, high-reach services (known as Category 1 services) will therefore have a legal obligation with regard to content and activity which is legal for adults but may be harmful to them. However, we do not think it is appropriate for the Government to require platforms to remove or interfere with legal content. This is why the duties are focused on increasing transparency about the risks on Category 1 Service, and ensuring companies set and enforce clear terms of service for how they will treat harmful content. This will enable users to make informed decisions about the platforms they use. This approach is also designed to be proportionate and to not place burdens on smaller services that do not have high reach, recognising that adult users may wish to seek out this content. Moreover, harmful material is likely to cause the most harm on Category 1 services with the largest audiences and a range of high-risk features, where it can spread quickly and reach large numbers of people.