Flagship plans to clean up the internet may be dropped by the Government, it emerged last night.
The Online Safety Bill had been due to go before MPs next week but has now been removed from the agenda. There will not be time for it to return to the Commons before the autumn – and it could then be ditched entirely if the new prime minister chooses to prioritise other new laws.
Oh dear, how sad, never mind...
Whitehall sources blamed Labour attempts to hold a confidence vote in the Government for the lack of time available for the Bill, which aims to introduce powers for tech giants to be hit with huge fines if they fail to keep users safe.
Ha ha ha ha! You couldn't make it up, could you?
The right people are squealing like stuck pigs, of course:
Campaigners were last night dismayed, with Andy Burrows, of child protection charity the NSPCC, saying: 'The Online Safety Bill is a crucial piece of legislation that is fundamentally about protecting children from harm and abuse that is taking place on an industrial scale on social media.
'Any delay will mean families continue to pay the price for the failure and inaction of tech firms who have allowed harm to fester rather than get their house in order.'
No, mostly, they'll pay the price for not doing any parenting....
All things considered, if I was the NSPCC I'd avoid any references to 'abuse that is taking place on an industrial scale'. You'll only remind people that your organisation has been, and still is, MIA when it comes to events in Rotherham, Telford and the rest.
ReplyDelete"... if the new prime minister chooses to prioritise other new laws."
ReplyDeleteI pray for a PM that chooses to prioritise NO new laws
Maybe the new PM could prioritise binning laws, particularly from the Blair era and ones we are still stuck with from the EU?
ReplyDelete"...I'd avoid any references to 'abuse that is taking place on an industrial scale'."
ReplyDeleteWell, quite!
"I pray for a PM that chooses to prioritise NO new laws"
Amen!