Britain To Make Social Media Bosses Personally Liable For Harmful Content

Britain's initiative was born out of public anger over the 2017 suicide of a 14-year-old girl who followed social media accounts about depression and self-harm.

Britain will make social media bosses personally liable for harmful content and shut down offending platforms under a "world-leading" government plan published Monday in response to the spread of online abuses and crimes.

The long-delayed and eagerly anticipated proposals lay the groundwork for legislation that could be passed in the coming months.

They were drawn up after consultations with social media moguls such as Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and have faced little resistance from other platforms that have also been blamed for inciting harmful behaviour online.

"What we're proposing today is that companies that deal with user-generated content should take greater responsibility for keeping those users safe," culture and media minister Jeremy Wright told BBC radio.

"These are world-leading proposals."

Australia also fast-tracked legislation last week that threatened jailed time for social media executives who failed to enact the "expeditious removal" of footage of terrorism and other odious crimes.

Punitive Sanctions

Australia's laws came in direct response to last month's live broadcast by Facebook and YouTube of the slaying of 50 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand.

Britain's initiative was born out of public anger over the 2017 suicide of a 14-year-old girl who followed social media accounts about depression and self-harm.

The proposed UK regulations would see social media companies accept "duty of care" obligations that require them to identify and remove "online harms".

Those that fail would be first issued warnings and then hit progressively with more punitive sanctions.

The government paper suggests that these include "the creation of new liability (civil fines or extended to criminal liability) for individual senior managers".

The most serious would see internet service providers block non-compliant websites and apps.

"This would only be considered as an option of last resort and deploying such an option would be a decision for the independent regulator alone," the plan says.

The regulations would only apply in Britain and should have no immediate impact on users elsewhere in the world.

But they may prompt other governments to take notice and follow suit.

Comments

Walking, cycling may help you live longer: Study

The study included 316,137 adults aged 18-74 years who had their first occupational health screening between 1995 and 2015 in Sweden. Taking the stairs, cycling or walking to work may help you live longer, regardless of age, sex and starting fitness level, a large-scale study unveiled on Friday claims. “People think they have to start going to the gym and exercising hard to get fitter,” said Elin Ekblom-Bak, from the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm. “But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. For most people, just being more active in daily life – taking the stairs, exiting the metro a station early, cycling to work – is enough to benefit health, since levels are so low to start with. The more you do, the better,” Ekblom-Bak said in a statement. The study included 316,137 adults aged 18-74 years who had their first occupational health screening between 1995 and 2015 in Sweden.

Announcements, 10-man team as Jama Masjid tries to tackle TikTok craze

Since Tuesday, an announcement about the app TikTok being banned in the premises is being made almost every hour inside Jama Masjid. This comes after “at least five viral TikTok videos” shot inside Jama Masjid surfaced, including one that shows two women doing a handstand. Since Tuesday, an announcement about the app TikTok being banned in the premises is being made almost every hour inside Jama Masjid. Notices stating the same are also being readied, and a team of 10 has been canvassing the area from dusk to dawn to “catch youngsters making TikTok videos”, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, told The Indian Express. This comes after “at least five viral TikTok videos” shot inside Jama Masjid surfaced, including one that shows two women doing a handstand. Movement restrictions have also been introduced. “During prayer time, that is five times a day, namazis and non-namazis can access the two small domes only through the main dome route. We want to res

‘Anger, hatred, fear are destructive emotions that destroy inner peace’: Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks on finding antidotes to emotions like anger, hatred and fear to achieve inner peace. One of the toughest battles one fights is with oneself. The numerous emotions that help us express ourselves, most of the times also destroy us, eat away our inner peace or make us question our own existence. Such is the peculiar case with the human mind that if we think about one particular negative emotion, more negative ones tend to follow, completely dis-balancing our thought process. It also creates numerous health issues including physical and mental, immediately or at a later stage and the repercussions can be detrimental to even those associated with us. In order to not let “destructive emotions” like hate, anger and fear take the better of us, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, says it is important to train the human mind. “Anger, hatred, fear are destructive emotions that destro

onliine latest news

Search This Blog