“They’ll face new responsibilities to protect free speech and journalism online. Mark Zuckerberg [Facebook’s founder] and others will no longer be able to arbitrarily cancel or silence users with the click of a mouse, without explanation or access to appeal,” said Ms Dorries.
For the first time users will have a right to appeal if they feel their post has been taken down unfairly, while news content – including comments posted underneath stories – will be exempt from the regulations.
Any tech firms that remove journalists’ articles will have to notify the writer in advance, say why they are doing it, give them a right of appeal and leave it online until the dispute is resolved.
Owen Meredith, chair of the News Media Association, representing publishers, welcomed the news content exemption as essential to ensure “journalism does not become subject to additional unnecessary layers of regulation which would have disastrous consequences for freedom of speech.”
‘First time I have ever been called ‘woke’ in my life’
Ms Dorries said: “In recent weeks social media firms have been quietly lobbying MPs over lunch. They have said the Bill will somehow be used to push a ‘woke’ agenda. I think this is the first time I have ever been called ‘woke’ in my life. It’s hardly a surprise that some in the tech world don’t like the bill.”
Social media bosses will also face up to two years in jail if they fail to comply with Ofcom investigations within two months of the online harms bill becoming law.
The Culture Secretary said Ofcom’s new criminal prosecution powers would enable the watchdog to root out “algorithms that litter teenage children’s Instagram feeds with posts teaching them how to be bulimic or anorexic”.
The powers – which will come on top of fines of up to 10 per cent of tech firms’ global turnover – were originally going to be held in reserve for possible introduction in as much as three years’ time, but will now come into effect two months after the bill becomes law at the end of this year.
‘Very real possibility of jail time’
Ms Dorries said it meant the “very real possibility of jail time” if social media executives failed to comply. “Accountability is hurtling down the tracks towards Silicon Valley execs. They no longer have the luxury of looking the other way,” said Ms Dorries.
The bill will also introduce three additional offences carrying maximum two year jail terms for directors or employees who suppress or destroy information demanded by Ofcom, obstruct or delay the watchdog’s investigators or fail to attend interviews or provide false information at them.
Ofcom will get powers to raid tech firms for data and equipment, demand information and carry out independent audits, which will include examining the role of algorithms in driving “harmful” or “illegal” content to vulnerable children.
It follows tragedies like the death of Molly Russell, 13, who took her life after being targeted with self harm and suicide content on Instagram.
‘We’re about to make social media firms do more to protect children’
Praising the Telegraph’s campaign for an online duty of care, Ms Dorries said: “We’re about to make [social media firms] do more to protect children and others online – a duty they have failed in, with catastrophic consequences in a number of tragic cases.”
The Bill will also place a legal duty on firms to prevent scam and fraudulent adverts online, criminalise online harassment, threats and abuse, and require all sites that publish porn to put in place “robust” age checks to bar under 18s.
Social media users will also get powers to block anonymous trolls while there will be a new legal requirement on tech firms to report child sexual exploitation or abuse to the National Crime Agency (NCA).
