As the Online Safety Bill makes its way back into Parliament, we look at key amendments and why they are essential.
The Online Safety Bill is meant to end harmful content on social media and online while protecting freedom of speech.
However, in its current form, the bill creates a dangerous regulatory gap because it fails to define ‘news publishers’ adequately.
The bill exempts content produced by ‘recognised news publishers’ from Ofcom regulation. All that is required to qualify as a recognised news publisher is for the organisation or collection of people to produce a ‘standards code’ and ‘complaints process’.
This creates a loophole that can be exploited by those who want to avoid accountability, whether that be a news publisher supporting extreme political views or a group of individuals masquerading as a news publisher.
By simply writing a standards code and setting up a complaints process, they can call themselves a news publisher.
With this in mind, the Press Recognition Panel (PRP) welcomes Lord Lipsey and Lord McNally’s amendment, which would define news publishers as members of an approved regulator under the press recognition system. This would provide a clear definition and remove the potential for malicious exploitation.
The recognition system was set up after the Leveson inquiry, with cross-party support. The PRP oversees this system. It sets minimum standards for the handling of complaints and codes of operation that must be met.
George Eustice MP wrote to the PRP earlier this year, saying: ‘This [amendment] would ensure that those recognised are worthy of recognition and ensure that there is a consistent application of the law without the need for recourse to the courts. …It is a ready-made solution to some of the problems presented by digital media.’
In addition, amendment 126 avoids the situation of leaving Ofcom, a state regulator, having to decide what constitutes a ‘recognised news publisher’.
This amendment could be a vehicle to create a level playing field for all news publishers and create a coherent system setting clear basic standards, transparently overseen by the independent Press Recognition Panel.
