The UK media and telecoms regulator on Tuesday outlined a blueprint for regulating social media platforms led by Facebook, Google’s YouTube and Twitter.
Ofcom said future regulation of the platforms should force them to remove inappropriate online content “quickly and effectively”, or face “meaningful financial penalties”. Platforms should also be asked to improve transparency so audiences would know why they were targeted with certain material, added the regulator.
Ofcom’s intervention comes as the government is considering new regulation of technology companies.
Ministers are working on a detailed policy paper that could force companies to take more responsibility for the online content that appears on their platforms.
Public debate about social media content platforms has intensified in recent years following a series of online scandals about bullying, so-called fake news, terrorist content and hate speech.
Ofcom chief executive Sharon White is due to say in a speech on Tuesday at a London conference organised by the Royal Television Society that the UK currently has a “standards lottery” that allows social media platforms to take advantage of lax regulation while traditional broadcasters have to follow tough rules on protecting audiences — for example children under the age of 18.
“As a regulator, we are required to keep audiences safe and protected — irrespective of the screen they watch, or the device they hold,” Ms White is expected to say. ““Without even knowing it, viewers are watching the same content, governed by different regulation in different places, or by none at all.”
Ofcom supervises the country’s media and telecoms companies, as well as the postal service, and is one of several watchdogs that could be given additional responsibilities if the government opts for new regulation of social media platforms.
Under previous chief executives, Ofcom has discussed whether it could have a role in policing online content, but Ms White, who took up the post in 2015, has been vocal about the potential case for statutory regulation of technology companies.
She said in the summer that the argument for independent regulatory scrutiny of the online world had never been stronger due to the rise of fake news and harmful content. Her view is backed by some media groups and telecoms businesses.
Handing new responsibilities to Ofcom to supervise social media platforms would raise questions about the watchdog’s budget and staff.
When Ofcom assumed oversight of the BBC in 2017, it hired 60 staff, bringing its full time workforce to 868.
