In an interview with the Financial Times, Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes said that it will take “strong action” against tech companies that break new rules on content moderation, even if it has limited powers to stop the spread of lies online. In August Ofcom had urged social media companies to take action against posts inciting violence, and the government warned it may revisit the Online Safety Act. The warning comes after Elon Musk clashed directly with the British government over free speech vs social media posts that made false claims, which prompted riots and violence in certain parts of the UK in the summer. Musk had accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government of censorship and recently falsely claimed it was “releasing convicted paedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts” – a reference to a policy of releasing some offenders early to ease prison overcrowding. Ofcom, the UK telecoms and media regulator, has issued a stark warning to big name tech platforms about their content moderation practices. “We have got some pretty strong powers here,” Melanie Dawes told the Financial Times, adding that Ofcom would be fully prepared to enforce the legislation quickly. The Online Safety Act will require websites and platforms to set and enforce clear content moderation policies, and to quickly remove illegal content. The media regulator urged platforms to address content that depicts “hatred and disorder” and promoted violence and misinformation.
This Cyber News was published on www.silicon.co.uk. Publication date: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 16:13:08 +0000