Have Labour gone too far according to Google, yes they have. They heavily criticised the Labour Government, claiming Britain risks suppressing free expression through the Online Safety Act.
Google criticism targets Ofcom’s plans requiring platforms to identify and limit the spread of “potentially illegal” material, including hate speech and incitement to violence.
Google are not happy about this and responded by saying such proposals risk “undermining users’ rights to freedom of expression”.
They go on to argue that these measures would “necessarily result in legal content being made less likely to be encountered by users, impacting users’ freedom of expression, beyond what the (Online Safety) Act intended”.
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Ofcom have no interest in listening and maintain there was “nothing in our proposals that would require sites and apps to take down legal content”.
Clearly this dispute will remain as both parties are in disagreement and neither one of them are willing to budge, at least not yet.
The White House suspended negotiations on a £31billion technology prosperity agreement earlier this month, with US officials expressing frustration at the Online Safety Act.
Donald Trump’s allies have repeatedly attacked the UK’s landmark legislation aimed at curbing online abuse and harmful content.
Vice President JD Vance has previously accused Britain of pursuing a “dark path” on matters of free expression.
Elon Musk’s platform X claimed that “free speech will suffer” under the British regulatory framework.
Ofcom’s have put forward proposals which would see posts flagged as “potentially illegal” excluded from the likes of news feeds, until human moderators have reviewed them.
Last week Google published a response to Ofcom’s approach “appears to introduce a new category of ‘potentially’ illegal content that was not intended by Parliament to be captured”.
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Ofcom acknowledged that many technology companies already operate systems to suppress “borderline” content, adding: “We recognise that some content which is legal and may have been engaging to users may also not be recommended to users as a result of this measure.”
A spokesman for the regulator stated: “There is nothing in our proposals that would require sites and apps to take down legal content.
“The Online Safety Act requires platforms to have particular regard to the importance of protecting users’ right to freedom of expression.”
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The spokesman went on to say: “If illegal content spreads rapidly online, it can lead to severe and widespread harm, especially during a crisis. Recommender systems can exacerbate this.
“To prevent this from happening, we have proposed that platforms should not recommend material to users where there are indicators it might be illegal, unless and until it has been reviewed.”
Is Britain becoming even more of a nanny state or are the regulators right to take this approach. If the Online Safety Act in it’s current form goes head it will be a first for us and may lead other countries to do something similar. Or will they be sceptical about the degree of interference this proposal this represents.
The act has been a bone of contention with parliamentary MP’s as well they have not exactly warmed to the idea either.
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On balance I would say that the act goes too far and Google clearly agree. I’m not against restrictions being brought in to protect our children more, but if MP’s and huge companies like Google are sceptical then you have to doubt its worth.
The Labour Government have to consider ‘freedom of speech’ which they seem to eroding more and more to suit their agenda, which may not be in the best interests of the people in this case children.
