Britain on Friday said that it has strengthened the safeguards in its Online Safety Bill to stop kids from watching porn.
Britain will set stricter rules for age verification methods used by firms that publish or permit porn on their platforms, under the most recent revisions made by the government in response to parliamentary debates, to ensure they are effective in determining if a user is a minor.
Britain has been debating how to safeguard social media users, and in particular children, from harmful content without impinging on free expression, just as the European Union and other nations.
The government said new measures will also aim to hold top tech executives personally accountable for safeguarding youngsters on their platforms after they agreed to toughen the law in January with the threat of jail time.
“This government will not allow the lives of our children to be put at stake whenever they go online; whether that is through facing abuse or viewing harmful content that could go on to have a devastating impact on their lives,” minister for tech and the digital economy, Paul Scully, said.
“To prevent any further tragedy and build a better future for our children, we are acting robustly and with urgency to make the Online Safety Bill the global standard for protecting our children.”
Sections of the Online Safety Bill, notably those that may be used to force messaging providers to break end-to-end encryption in order to scan for child abuse material, have drawn criticism from the IT sector, including companies like Apple.
