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Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and other large technology companies may be held personally liable for the harmful content of their services, according to the British government's plans reviewed by The Guardian.
The details are meager, but the report suggests that leaders of large technology companies will be held personally liable if their company does not remove content related to terrorism, child abuse, self-harm and suicide.
It is unclear exactly what this personal responsibility will entail, but the idea of criminal convictions has been launched. "We will look at all possible options for sanctions," British Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright told the BBC in February.
The UK government is due to issue a policy paper on Monday that should radically tighten technology regulation in the UK. Business Insider understands that the government's plans are still in the draft and will not be finalized until this weekend.
Read more: Facebook and Google will be facing heavy fines in the UK if they fail to rid their platforms of toxic content
British Digital Minister Margot James told Business Insider at the end of February that the government would introduce a new technology regulator, which would have the power to impose mbadive fines on Facebook and Google, for example, when it was not possible they did not rid their platforms of prejudicial content.
James said the fines could reach 4% of a company's overall business figure, which means that they could reach billions of dollars in the most severe cases.
According to The Guardian, the government will initially ask the media regulator, Ofcom, to control the technology companies. Ultimately, it will create an independent regulator, funded by a levy on technology companies.
The plans will cover not only social media platforms like Facebook, but also online messaging services and even file hosting sites.
The UK government's document comes as governments around the world are trying to find solutions to the proliferation of hate speech and other harmful content online. The Internet has always been considered to be beyond regulation, but some changes have encouraged governments to act.
The first is that power has merged around a few dominant US companies, namely Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter and Snapchat, which may be falling behind.
The second concerns issues such as the proliferation of online hate content and the way young people use the Internet. Facebook and other companies have come under pressure after the Facebook broadcast of the shooting of the Christchurch Mosque and its broadcast on other platforms. And the parents of a British teenage girl who committed suicide, Molly Russell, said she did so in part because of a self-aggressive content that she had seen on Instagram.
The Australian government is also considering new strict rules that could result in jail time for technical executives in companies that do not remove "heinous violent material," according to CNET. These laws were also developed as a result of the shootings in Christchurch. The alleged gunman, Brenton Tarrant, is an Australian.
A spokesman for the UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement: "We will soon publish a white paper that will outline the responsibilities of online platforms, how these responsibilities should be fulfilled, and that will occur if We have heard calls for an Internet regulator and the establishment of a "duty of due diligence" on the platforms and have seriously considered all the options. "
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