Welcome to the final Carnegie UK Trust Online Harms update of 2020. It’s a bumper one!
Since the last edition, we’ve seen the Irish Online Safety Bill, the European Democracy Action Plan, the European Digital Services Act and – cue festive fanfare – the UK Government’s final response to the Online Harms White Paper delivered, as promised (just) before “the end of the year”; and in Parliament, the Select Committees have been busy hearing evidence on various related topics.
After the Christmas break, we’re looking forward… to being refreshed and reinvigorated for the year ahead. Hope you all will be too and thanks all the lovely feedback we’ve had since we launched his newsletter back in September. Have a very happy Christmas break and we’ll be back in touch in January.
What’s been happening?
The road to regulation
The Government’s final response to the Online Harms consultation was finally published on 15th December, detailing its proposals for the new legislative framework and confirming Ofcom as the independent regulator. There is much to be cautiously optimistic about in relation to the overall direction of travel, though many initial decisions – such as the exclusion of consumer harms like fraud and scams, and also of mis/disinformation that does not cause direct harm to the user – are disappointing. Head over to our website to see our initial response to the Government’s proposals as well as our blog post setting out some of the key components required to deliver effective legislation. William Perrin and Lorna Woods’ op-ed in the Daily Telegraph is also worth a read. We will be publishing more detailed analysis in due course. Meanwhile, see below for Prof Woods’ detailed analysis of recent European developments.
To get a flavour of the Parliamentary interest in the Government’s proposals and the key areas to watch once the Bill is introduced, catch up with the Commons and Lords debates on the DCMS statement. (Please excuse a small trumpet-blowing moment as we note the remarkable show of cross-party unity in the Lords which saw all three Lords front-benchers – Stevenson (Lab), Clement-Jones (Lib Dem) and Barran (DCMS minister) – and the Bishop of Oxford acknowledge the influence of Carnegie UK Trust on the Online Harms debate.)
Select Committees have also been busy in the past few weeks, including the Lords’ Digital and Communications Committee taking evidence in their inquiry on online freedom of expression, the Women and Equalities Committee hearing from Facebook, Tiktok and Snap in their inquiry into body image, and the DCMS Select Committee’s questioning of the major tech companies on their response to Covid 19 disinformation.
Systems, design and governance
A recent OII report has investigated how the major platforms, while attempting to address misinformation and disinformation content, are still hosting the infrastructure for many Covid 19 conspiracy websites.
The Internet and Jurisdiction Policy Network has published a new outcome brief on user notification in online content moderation.
The Competition and Markets Authority has set out how it will deliver “a modern regulatory regime fit for the digital age – one that is forward-looking, targeted and enables quick results to harness the full potential of digital markets, driving greater competition and innovation”. As part of this, the new Digital Markets Unit will develop and oversee codes of conduct for the major tech platforms. This is a highly significant piece of work.
Children and young people
The Children’s Commissioner published a report setting out the risks end-to-end encryption pose to children’s safety.
The first in a new UKCIS online harms webinar series (a fascinating discussion on technology and mental health) can be viewed here.
We’ve recently responded to the UN CRC consultation on the rights of the child in a digital environment.
Misinformation and disinformation
There was much interest in the impact of the UK Online Harms proposals at the fourth meeting of Parliamentarians on the International Grand Committee on disinformation, which was initially convened in the UK by Damian Collins MP.
New research from Kings College, London and Ipsos Mori suggests one in three people have been exposed to Covid19 anti-vaxx misinformation. Meanwhile, research from the Royal Society of Public Health covered by the BBC has indicated that BAME groups may be more vaccine hesitant.
The Tony Blair Global Institute has also published a research report on Combating Vaccine Misinformation in the Age of the Internet, which includes recommendations for the online harms regulatory approach as well as better messaging by public health bodies.
Full Fact has published a report on its participation in Facebook’s Third Party Fact Checking Programme, which makes a number of recommendations (relevant to other internet companies too) on how to improve such programmes.
ICYMI: a must-read, long read in the Atlantic on fake news.
Consumer harms and scams
The Money and Mental Health Institute has published research showing that people with mental health problems are three times more likely to fall victim to online scams. The organisation, founded by Martin Lewis, is calling for scams to be included in the Online Harms bill.
Societal harms
The long-delayed review of the Gambling Act has started, with a consultation running until 31st March, and a series of proposals to protect online gamblers more effectively. The Gambling Health Alliance has called for a “public health approach” to protect children and vulnerable groups. Meanwhile, take a look at our recent response to the DCMS consultation on loot boxes.
European and international developments
The UK’s Online Harms publication was part of a pre-Christmas flurry of international announcements on the way forward for online regulation:
Then, on the same day as the UK’s proposals were published, the Commission launched its Digital Services Act; further analysis on that from Prof Woods here.
To understand what’s been going on behind the scenes as international regulators square up to big tech bosses, this New York Times piece on lobbying is essential reading. Meanwhile, here’s an open letter from Twitter, Mozilla and others on the need to defend an “open internet”.
Meanwhile, the campaign to reverse an incoming European Parliament change to privacy laws that could prevent the automatic detection of online child abuse material has ramped up. Read the detail here.
In the USA the FTC has launched an inquiry into the use of data by major platforms by making information requests (remember that the USA does not really have federal data protection law so this is an interesting development).
In a perhaps surprising development, the Texas Attorney General is leading a suit against Google for ‘anticompetitive conduct, exclusionary practices and deceptive misrepresentations in connection with its role in the multi-trillion-dollar online display advertising industry’ in the advertising market, which also may implicate Facebook.
Get involved
Consultations and inquiries
Joint Human Rights Committee inquiry into freedom of expression: deadline 3rd January 2021.
The APPG on Social Media is seeking submissions to its a new inquiry: “Selfie Generation: What’s behind the rise of self-generated indecent images of children online”: deadline 31st January 2021.
Ofcom is consulting on its 2021/22 plan of work: deadline 5th February 2021.
DCMS call for evidence to inform the review of the Gambling Act: deadline 31st March 2021.
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