The UK is leading the way on tech regulation

Edward Bowles | 21st February 2021 | Uncategorised
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Facebook's Director of Public Policy for Northern Europe, Edward Bowles, praises the UK's holistic approach to tech regulation and outlines the challenges to come

On 12 Feb 2020 the then Secretary of State for DCMS, together with the Home Secretary, published the Government’s initial response into the Online Harms consultation. The following day, Boris Johnson reshuffled his ministerial team and, just a few weeks thereafter, the country went into the first COVID lockdown. One might reasonably have feared that the business of government was going to be the least likely to adapt to the new virtual working life but, to Whitehall and parliament’s credit, they surprised us all. Select committee hearings from bedrooms, dining rooms, or broom closets were the new norm. Roll forward to year end, 2020, and a suite of announcements showed just how much work had been done in the intervening months: the government’s response to the CMA’s Market Study on Competition in Digital Advertising; the Digital Market Taskforce’s Advice to Government and the Government’s full response to the Online Harms (now Online Safety) consultation. The UK is at the forefront of ...

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