Ofcom criticised over ‘checklist’ approach to Online Safety Act

A regulator has been accused of a “lack of ambition” over the Online Safety Act, with one charity warning that tech sites can do less on safety and still comply with the new rules because of a “checklist” approach.

Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said new online safety laws have some “pretty clear systemic weaknesses” in how Ofcom is implementing them, and called for the Government to intervene and create a strengthened version of the Act.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Burrows said the current approach of Ofcom setting out codes of practice for tech platforms to follow meant that some of the biggest sites could “scale back” their safety measures and still be compliant with the Online Safety Act.

“What we’re seeing from Ofcom is a distinct lack of ambition,” Mr Burrows said.

“They are being cautious in the face of really pronounced, urgent challenges but that has also exposed some pretty clear systemic weaknesses with the way the original Act was drafted.

“One of the big problems right now is that, essentially, if some of the big tech platforms comply with a checklist that Ofcom has set out in its codes of practice then they’re taken as being compliant.

“What that essentially means is that some of the big tech services – the Metas of this world, the TikToks of the world – could actually scale back what they currently do and be taken as compliant. That’s not what Parliament envisaged.”

Mr Burrows said the Molly Rose Foundation has recently met the Prime Minister on the issue, and is calling on him to commit to a “new Act that can strengthen this regime”.

The Molly Rose Foundation was set up by the family of Molly Russell, who chose to end her life aged 14, in November 2017, after viewing suicide and self-harm content on social media.

Under the Online Safety Act, the largest tech platforms have to follow Ofcom’s codes of practice on issues such as illegal content and protecting children from online harm, which requires them to remove illegal material from their sites and ensure they have systems in place, such as age verification, that prevent children from accessing harmful content.

Fines of up to 10% of global turnover – potentially billions of pounds for the biggest firms – are possible for those found to be in breach.

But Mr Burrows said the Molly Rose Foundation’s “fear” is that the UK was “going backwards” on children’s online safety.

He highlighted Meta’s recent announcement that it was rowing back on using third-party fact checkers in the US and would instead implement a user-based community notes system, as well as loosen some of its content policies around certain issues in the name of free speech, as a sign of tech giants pulling back from online safety.

“What we’ve seen from some of the big tech companies, from (Meta boss) Mark Zuckerberg since Donald Trump’s election, is a bonfire of safety measures here in the UK,” he said.

Mr Burrows urged Sir Keir Starmer and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle to listen to parents in the UK rather than “geopolitical pressures now from the US and elsewhere” calling for looser regulation of tech firms.

He said: “Our polling shows 85% of parents want a new Act and I think if the Government has the ambition and the bravery to fix this Act and to tackle these issues once and for all, parents watching this right across the country this morning will cheer the Prime Minister on.”

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Our codes of practice set out robust measures – many of which are not currently being used by the largest and riskiest platforms – that will significantly improve safety for all users, especially children.

“The stipulation that firms will be compliant with their safety duties if they implement all the measures in our codes is one that’s built into the legislation.

“If providers fail to meet their duties once they’re in force, we won’t hesitate to use our robust enforcement powers.”