UK unveils plans to hold social media bosses liable for harmful content
AFP/File / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEVPrime Minister Theresa May warned tech companies they had "not done enough" to protect users and that her government intended to put "a legal duty of care" on the firms "to keep people safe"
The British government said on Monday it will explore making social media executives personally liable for harmful content published on their platforms, in a raft of new online safety proposals.
The plans unveiled in a policy paper, which also include creating an independent regulator, aim to tackle all kinds of harmful content from encouraging violence and suicide to spreading disinformation and cyber bullying.
The issue has gained added urgency with Facebook's failure to immediately halt livestreams of a March 15 attack by a self-avowed white supremacist on two mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people.
Prime Minister Theresa May warned tech companies they had "not done enough" to protect users and that her government intended to put "a legal duty of care" on the firms "to keep people safe".
"For too long these companies have not done enough to protect users, especially children and young people, from harmful content," she said in a statement.
"That is not good enough, and it is time to do things differently.
"Online companies must start taking responsibility for their platforms, and help restore public trust in this technology."
The new laws envisaged will apply to any company that allows users to share or discover user generated content or interact with each other online.
That will include file hosting sites and chat forums as well as the better known social media platforms, messaging services and search engines.
Firms could face tough penalties for failing to meet the standards.
"We are consulting on powers to issue substantial fines, block access to sites and potentially to impose liability on individual members of senior management," the government said.
Under the proposals, a new regulator would have the power to force platforms and others to publish annual transparency reports.
They would include the levels of harmful content disseminated on their sites and how they addressed the problem.
The regulator will also be able to issue codes of practice, which could compel companies to meet certain requirements, such as hiring fact-checkers, particularly during election periods.
"The era of self-regulation for online companies is over," Digital Secretary Jeremy Wright said, adding he wanted the sector to be "part of the solution".
"Those that fail to do this will face tough action," he vowed.
Proponents of tougher social media regulations welcomed the proposals.
"For too long social networks have failed to prioritise children's safety and left them exposed to grooming, abuse, and harmful content," said Peter Wanless, head of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
"It's high time they were forced to act through this legally binding duty to protect children, backed up with hefty punishments if they fail to do so."
US Homeland Security chief Nielsen leaving her position: Trump
AFP / SAUL LOEBKirstjen Nielsen has become the face of the Trump administration's anti-immigration policy
US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the front-line defender of the administration's controversial immigration policies, would leave her position.
The 46-year-old's departure marks the end of a tortured relationship with her boss, who blamed her for a recent spike in the number of migrants coming through the Mexico border and reportedly felt she wasn't tough enough to implement his policies.
Trump's announcement comes days after he and Nielsen visited the Mexican border where the president delivered a message to would-be illegal immigrants and asylum seekers: "Our country is full."
He had previously threatened to close the US-Mexico border if Congress and Central American governments did not act to stem a flow of migrants that saw Nielsen last week order an "emergency surge" of personnel to handle the situation.
"Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen will be leaving her position, and I would like to thank her for her service," Trump tweeted Sunday.
He added US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan would become acting secretary.
On Friday, US media reported that Trump also pulled his nominee to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement department -- saying he wanted someone "tougher" to lead the department -- a sub-agency of Nielsen's.
The personnel shake-ups were seen by observers as a signal the president wants to tack an even harder line in his crack down on illegal immigration.
- Family separations -
Nielsen initially joined the Trump administration in January 2017 as a an assistant to Trump's first DHS secretary, John Kelly. When Kelly moved to the White House as Trump's chief of staff in July 2017, Nielsen went with him as his deputy.
But by October she was back at DHS, this time as secretary. Disaster relief, cyber security, transportation security, the Coast Guard, customs and policing the borders all fall under the department's purview.
But most notably, she has become the face of the Trump administration's fierce anti-immigration policy.
That includes the widely condemned practice of separating migrant children from their parents as part of a "zero tolerance" policy of prosecuting all illegal border crossers.
Images of sobbing children being taken from their parents last year fuelled a national outcry that saw Democrats demand she resign, as condemnation poured in from the United Nations, human rights groups, and four former first ladies -- all mothers -- who called the policy "cruel" and "immoral."
Although Trump's ambiguous announcement left the details of her exit up in the air, Nielsen's relationship with the president has long been said to be difficult.
But despite reports he complained constantly about her performance -- and that he believed she was not harsh enough -- she remained steadfastly loyal.
Last month, she defended the president's declaration of a national emergency to secure funding for his pet project: a wall on the US-Mexico border.
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