The UK government has now published the final version of the Online Safety Bill. Following the pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint select committee of parliament, which I chaired, the bill has been introduced in the House of Commons and is expected to be debated before the end of May. This is a world-leading piece of legislation, creating an independent regulator that will set safety standards online, protecting users from harmful content found on social media platforms and through search engines. 

At its heart is the principle that what is illegal offline will be regulated online. This is our chance to end the internet wild west and have safety standards based on our laws, rather than the rules the Big Tech companies have created for themselves. These companies will now have an obligation to proactively mitigate illegal content, such as child abuse or terrorist content, as well as being required to act against content such as hate speech, the incitement of violence and the promotion of known frauds and scams. The Bill will also include new communications offences recommended by the law commissioners. These address growing concern about the promotion of self-harm and suicide, cyberflashing and sharing knowingly false content with the intent of causing physical or serious psychological harm to a target audience. Ofcom, the UK media regulator, will oversee the safety regime and …