Wikipedia governing bodies and human rights groups express opposition to online safety law amendments that impose imprisonment on corporate executives who did not protect children from the Internet



The `` Online Safety Bill '', which requires service providers to protect minors from harm on the Internet, was passed by the House of Commons on January 17, 2023. This online safety bill obliges technology companies that provide internet services to delete content and restrict access to minors, but the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, and some human rights groups are objecting to this bill. increase.

Tech bosses could face jail after UK govt backs down over online harm | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/tech-bosses-could-face-jail-after-uk-government-backs-down-over-online-harm-2023-01-17/

TechScape: Finally, the UK's online safety bill gets its day in Parliament – here's what you need to know | Social media | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jan/17/online-safety-bill-meta-pinterest-snap-molly-russell

Wikipedia Says It Should Be Given An Exception In The Online Safety Bill / Digital Information World
https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2023/01/wikipedia-says-it-should-be-given.html

The online safety bill was created in the wake of the sudden suicide of a 14-year-old girl living in London. From the deceased girl's smartphone, it was discovered that the girl had viewed movies and images related to suicide and self-harm on Instagram and Pinterest, so the girl's father said, ``I suggest suicide and self-harm. Posts like this made her mentally ill, and her daughter committed suicide.'

This online safety bill is designed to protect children from harmful content and activities for all technology companies that operate search engines or services that publish user-generated content. Covered technology companies will be required to verify the age of users when viewing content that is child-accessible but not illegal, such as content related to self-harm or sexual content.



In addition, in November 2022, additional amendments to the bill were made to require companies to publish risk assessments of the dangers their sites pose to children. In addition, information on companies violating the bill will be subject to mandatory public disclosure by the UK Information and Communications Office (Ofcom), as well as imprisonment of up to two years or up to £18 million for senior executives of companies. 150 million yen) or a fine of up to 10% of global turnover.

Michelle Donnellan, UK's Minister of Culture, said: 'Additional amendments in November will no longer allow senior executives to ignore the enforceable requirements of the Online Safety Bill, and prosecutions by Ofcom will fail to adequately protect children. We will guarantee that liability will be pursued in case of failure.' 'The responsibility to keep young people safe online falls on technology companies' shoulders. Users don't have to change settings or apply filters to protect themselves from harmful content.' Silicon Valley social media companies and their executives must build these protections into their platforms.'

However, Rebecca McKinnon, vice president of the Wikimedia Foundation's Global Advocacy Division, said of the bill, ``The UK online safety bill threatens volunteer-led content moderation and websites that lead to the public interest like Wikipedia. Also, mandatory age verification ultimately exposes everyone, not just children, to greater harm,' he said.



McKinnon also told the British public broadcaster BBC , `` Imposing severe criminal penalties on technology company executives will affect not only large companies but also websites that lead to public interests such as Wikipedia. We should distinguish between centralized content moderation performed by members and content moderation performed by volunteer communities like Wikipedia, ”said the online safety bill could limit freedom of expression.

In addition, the human rights group Open Tights Group issued a statement saying, `` Threatening technology executives with prison terms undermines freedom of expression.

Threatening tech bosses with prison damages freedom of expression | Open Rights Group
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/threatening-tech-bosses-with-prison-damages-freedom-of-expression/

The Open Tights Group argues that the online safety bill, which threatens criminal penalties to control content, invites excessive moderation that also removes legal content and threatens freedom of expression. Furthermore, enforcing age verification for access to legal content does not protect the right of children and adults to access legal content and is a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. posing a serious risk to

Related Posts:

in Web Service, Posted by log1i_yk