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<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTech bosses could face jail time for failing to protect children online, after the government conceded to a backbench rebellion.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Nearly 50 Tory MPs wanted to amend the Online Safety Bill to introduce two-year sentences for managers who fail to stop children seeing harmful material.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The government had been facing defeat, with Labour also supporting the move.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Under a deal with the rebels to stave off defeat, ministers have now promised to introduce similar proposals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is the third time that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed down in the face of rebellious backbenchers since taking power in October. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It follows concessions late last year on the issues of housing targets for councils and restrictions on onshore wind farms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The bill would oblige managers of sites hosting user-generated content, including social media sites, to take “proportionate measures” to stop children seeing harmful material.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The draft law says this could be through measures such as age verification, taking content down, and parental controls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Currently the bill would only make managers criminally liable for failing to give information to media regulator Ofcom, which is set to gain wide-ranging powers to police the internet under the new law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Making managers liable for a failure to comply with broader safety duties in the bill was rejected after a consultation ahead of the bill’s introduction, which concluded it could make the UK tech sector less attractive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Companies failing in their legal duties, including protecting children, could be fined up to 10% of global revenue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n However, the Tory rebels had argued that only personal liability for company bosses would ensure the child safety provisions are effective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Rebels have agreed to withdraw their amendment after talks with Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan over the weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In exchange, the government has now agreed to introduce an amendment of its own along similar lines when the bill gets to the House of Lords – giving ministers more time to work on the wording.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The government’s amendment has not yet been published, but ministers are expected to set out further details on Tuesday. In a blog-post on Conservative Home, Ms Donelan said the bill will make social media bosses “criminally liable for their actions”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “No longer will faceless executives be able to pass the buck and hide behind corporate loopholes,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Sir Bill Cash, a leading Tory rebel, told the BBC the agreement with ministers was a “huge step forward”, adding that senior managers in the sector “will not want to run the risk of going to jail”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Other Conservatives supporting the amendment include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and other ex-ministers including former home secretary Priti Patel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said that Ofcom needed “sufficient teeth that Silicon Valley bosses would sit up and take notice”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But she also accused ministers of scaling back the bill significantly when it came to protections for adults. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Online Safety Bill was introduced in March under Boris Johnson, and has been repeatedly altered during its passage through Parliament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Its progress was further delayed last month when the government decided to make more changes to the bill.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After its passage through the House of Commons, it is expected to face a lengthy journey through the House of Lords. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Who needs to ‘step up’ to keep kids safe online?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Online Safety Bill to return as soon as possible<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Can age verification stop children seeing porn?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n Published at Tue, 17 Jan 2023 10:23:06 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tech bosses could face jail after Tory MPs revolt on bill Getty Images Tech bosses could face jail time for failing to protect children online, after the government conceded to a backbench rebellion. Nearly 50 Tory MPs wanted to amend the Online Safety Bill to introduce two-year sentences for managers who fail to stop children… Continue reading Tech bosses could face jail after Tory MPs revolt on bill<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk-politics","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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