The UK government has hinted at the possibility of pursuing stricter regulation of tech platforms following several days of violent riots in England and Northern Ireland, sparked by the spread of online misinformation.
On Friday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that the Online Safety Act (OSA) would be reviewed.
This legislation, passed by Parliament in September 2023 after years of political debates, imposes obligations on platforms that enable user-to-user communication (such as social media and messaging apps) to remove illegal content and protect their users from other harms, such as hate speech, with penalties that can reach up to 10% of their annual global revenue in case of non-compliance.
“In terms of the Internet and social media, the first thing I would say is that this is not a lawless space, and I believe this is evident in the processes and verdicts,” stated Starmer, emphasizing that those who incite online hate already face consequences, with the Crown Prosecution Service reporting the first convictions linked to hate speech posts related to recent violent disturbances.
However, Starmer added, “I agree that we need to take a broader look at social media after this disruption, but for now, the focus must be on addressing the riots and ensuring our communities are safe.”
The Guardian reported that the decision to review the law was driven by criticism from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who described the legislation as “not fit for purpose.”
Cities and towns across England and Northern Ireland have been shaken by violent riots following the stabbing of three girls in Southport on July 30.
False information about the perpetrator incorrectly identified him as a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived in the country on a small boat. This lie quickly spread online, mainly through social media posts amplified by far-right activists. The misinformation about the attacker’s identity has been widely linked to the civil unrest that has gripped the country in recent days.
Also on Friday, it was reported that a British woman was arrested under the Public Order Act 1986, suspected of inciting racial hatred by posting false information on social media about the attacker’s identity.
For now, these arrests are the government’s priority in responding to the civil unrest, but the broader issue of how to deal with tech platforms and other digital tools used to spread misinformation remains a concern.
As previously reported, the OSA is not yet fully in effect, as the regulator is still consulting on the guidelines. Therefore, some might argue that reviewing the legislation is premature, at least until mid-next year, to give the law a chance to be effective.
At the same time, the bill has faced criticism for being poorly drafted and not addressing the underlying business models of platforms that profit from driving engagement through outrage.
The previous Conservative government also made significant revisions in the fall of 2022, specifically removing clauses addressing “legal but harmful” speech (i.e., where misinformation generally falls).
At that time, Digital Minister Michelle Donelan noted that the government was responding to concerns about the bill’s impact on free speech. However, another former minister, Damian Collins, questioned the government’s stance, suggesting that the removed provisions were only intended to apply transparency measures to ensure that platforms enforced their own terms and conditions, especially in situations where content could incite violence or hatred.
Major social media platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have terms and conditions that generally prohibit this type of content, but it’s not always clear how strictly these rules are enforced (a recent example: on August 6, a UK man was arrested for inciting racial hatred by posting messages on Facebook about an attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers).
Platforms have long followed a strategy of plausible deniability, claiming they remove content once they are informed about it. However, a law that regulates the resources and processes they are expected to have in place could force them to be more proactive in stopping the unrestrained spread of toxic misinformation.
A test case is already underway against X in the European Union, where the enforcers of the bloc’s Digital Services Act have been investigating the platform’s approach to moderating misinformation since December.
On Thursday, the EU informed Reuters that X’s handling of harmful content related to the civil unrest in the UK could be considered in its investigation, as “what happens in the UK is visible here.” “If there are examples of hate speech or incitement to violence, they could be taken into account as part of our proceedings against X,” added a Commission spokesperson.
According to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, once the OSA is fully operational in the UK next spring, the law could exert similar pressure on how larger platforms handle misinformation. A Department spokesperson told us that, under the current law, larger platforms with greater requirements under the Act are expected to consistently enforce their own terms of service, especially when these prohibit the spread of false information.
By: Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director