Sunak bows to demands to make tech chiefs liable for online harm

Sunak’s partial climbdown on key legislation came in the face of a planned rebellion from within his governing Conservative Party, with about 50 Tory lawmakers supporting an amendment designed to toughen the Online Safety Bill. 

Sunak suffered a blow to his authority as he struggled to quell Conservative rebellions on multiple policy fronts, and his downcast Members of Parliament threatened an exodus from Westminster ahead of the next election.

Sunak, who’s built his pitch to UK voters around boosting investment in the UK, had intended to limit criminal sanctions to executives who refused to cooperate with information requests or investigations from media regulator Ofcom. Tory rebels, who had the backing of the opposition Labour Party, are demanding two-year jail terms for directors who breach their legal duties to shield children from content promoting abuse, suicide or self-harm. 

The government will give an initial indication of the shift in approach when the bill is debated on Tuesday but is unlikely to set out the penalties in detail until later when the legislation reaches the upper House of Lords, one of the officials said, adding that the new measures would most likely only apply when bosses deliberately choose to ignore enforcement action by the regulator.

A spokeswoman for Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan declined to comment. Junior minister Paul Scully is expected to lay out the government’s plans on Tuesday. 

Read More: UK rewrites online safety bill after free speech backlash 

The legislation sets out new powers that will let Ofcom fine or sanction tech companies if they don’t follow new rules aimed at protecting people online. Those include such as being more transparent about risk assessments, enforcing their own terms and conditions, and heeding age limits and checks.

The bill – in development for almost six years, under seven Conservative secretaries of state – is aimed at curbing harms on any site or app which lets users interact, from social media to search engines. An impact assessment by the government last year estimated it will apply to more than 25,000 services. 

Sunak has already backed down various times since taking office in October, in the face of several potential rebellions on planning reform and onshore wind proposals. BM/DM