Following the government’s concession to a backbench rebellion, tech executives may face jail time for failing to protect minors online.
Nearly 50 Conservative MPs wanted to alter the Online Safety Bill to include two-year prison penalties for managers who fail to prevent minors from viewing hazardous material.
The government was on the verge of defeat, with Labour also backing the measure.
Ministers have now committed to introduce similar plans as part of an agreement with the rebels to avoid defeat.
Since entering office in October, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed down three times in the face of recalcitrant backbenchers.
It follows concessions made late last year on council housing targets and onshore wind farm limits.
The bill would require managers of sites that host user-generated content, such as social networking sites, to take “proportionate steps” to prevent children from viewing dangerous content.
According to the draft law, this might be accomplished by mechanisms such as age verification, content removal, and parental controls.
Currently, the plan would only make managers criminally accountable for failing to provide information to media regulator Ofcom, which will receive broad powers to police the internet under the new law.
Making managers accountable in the bill for failing to comply with broader safety requirements was rejected following a consultation before the bill’s introduction, which found that it may make the UK tech sector less appealing.
Companies that fail to meet their legal obligations, such as protecting children, might face fines of up to 10% of their global revenue.
The Tory rebels, on the other hand, believed that only personal culpability for firm executives would ensure the kid protection rules were effective.
A regulator with “teeth”
After discussions with Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan over the weekend, the rebels agreed to drop their amendment.
In exchange, the government has agreed to submit a similar amendment when the measure reaches the House of Lords, giving ministers extra time to deliberate on the wording.
The government’s proposal has not yet been made public, but ministers are expected to provide more information on Tuesday.
Sir Bill Cash, a key Tory rebel, told the BBC the agreement with ministers was a “great step forward”, adding that senior managers in the sector “would not want to run the danger of going to jail”.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith is among those who support the change
Duncan Smith, as well as other ex-ministers such as former home secretary Priti Patel.
Labour’s shadow culture minister Lucy Powell argued that Ofcom required “sufficient teeth that Silicon Valley leaders would sit up and take note”.
However, she also accused ministers of scaling back the bill significantly when it came to protections for adults.
The Online Safety Bill was introduced in March under Boris Johnson, and has been repeatedly altered during its passage through Parliament.
Its progress was further delayed last month when the government decided to make more changes to the bill.
After its passage through the House of Commons, it is expected to face a lengthy journey through the House of Lords.
