The British government released the long-simmering plan for online security legislation on Tuesday (15th), which puts forward new responsibilities, obligations and requirements for high-tech media platforms on the Internet, including Google, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Twitter.
This legislation requires companies to “delete and limit the dissemination of illegal content” in a timely manner, including content that disseminates child sexual abuse and terrorism, and extremist ideas, otherwise it will be fined between tens of millions and billions of pounds.
The legislative plan was already in the process of 18 months before it was announced. It is understood that the European Union will also publish similar legislation, the EU Digital Services Act, this week, and the United States will also have similar legislation, targeting Internet giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google.
Under the online security legislation plan, Ofcom, the British media regulator, as a law enforcement agency, can impose fines of up to 18 million pounds or 10% of global annual turnover on illegal high-tech companies, whichever is higher.
The proposed fine is higher than the 4% previously recommended by the British government. In Facebook, for example, 10% of last year’s revenue will reach $7 billion. If the Internet giants repeatedly violate the regulations, they may also be expelled from the British market.
In addition to this cybersecurity legislative plan, the Competition and Market Authority last week announced another legislative proposal against high-tech companies in the digital market, under which international high-tech giants who violate the rules of competition in the UK’s digital market may be fined billions of pounds.
