The UK government has set out plans detailing how it will use the new law it has created to police online platforms and social media – with one telling exception.

The Draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for online safety puts the emphasis on platform providers to prevent online harm in the first place and to work with the regulator Ofcom on how the new law – the Online Safety Act – will be implemented. But he offered few details on how he would use the more controversial aspects of the legislation.

The priority set lists the activities that could take place on online platforms. Platform providers are expected to “take proactive steps to reduce the risks of their services being used to conduct the most harmful illegal activity.”

The list includes terrorism, child sexual abuse and exploitation, illegal suicide and self-harm content, illegal activities that disproportionately affect women and girls, illegal disinformation, hatred that incites violence against certain individuals or groups, UK-related content designed to encourage or facilitate organized immigration crime by criminal groups, as well as illegal arms and drug sales, illegal foreign interference such as state-sponsored disinformation, fraud and “other priority crimes”.

In a statement, technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “Keeping children safe online is a priority for this government. While the Online Safety Act lays the groundwork for creating better online experiences, we need to keep up with technology as it evolves to create a safer internet. , especially for children.”

The draft statement says the government aims to prevent harm in the first place where possible. “While this is clearly a material challenge, Ofcom has significant powers – including information gathering, auditing, enforcement and sanctioning powers – to ensure that providers comply with their statutory obligations to protect online users,” it said. say.

“The government wants to see a culture of candor created through Ofcom’s transparency reporting regime, where regulators and platforms work together to expose the practices that create the greatest risks for users and tackle the systemic problems they uncover.” , it is said.

The draft document also talks about increasing the transparency and accountability of online platforms and “supporting continued innovation in safety technologies”.

But it is silent on the most controversial aspect of the Act, Section 122, which says platform providers should use “accredited technology” to access online content required by law enforcement or regulations.

Covering terrorism and the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, the section gives Ofcom the power to “give notice in relation to a regulated user-to-user service or a regulated search service to the service provider” to remove and/or prevent users from see the content.

While the government has said there is no intention to weaken the use of encryption technology platforms, concerns remain about the authorities’ ability to access private communications.

A critic of the act, said Signal CEO Meredith Whittaker her attitude remained unchanged after she was given royal assent.

“Signal will never undermine our privacy promises and the encryption they rely on,” Whittaker said. “Our position remains firm: we will continue to do everything we can to ensure people in the UK can use Signal. But if the choice came down to being forced to build a back door or leave, we would leave.”

Register has asked the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for more details on how it plans to implement Section 122.

Along with the draft plans, the government commissioned a research project to explore the impact of social media on the wellbeing and mental health of young people. ®