May Advised U.K. Must Prosecute Social Media for Illegal Content

May Advised U.K. Must Prosecute Social Media for Illegal Content
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U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May should legislate to prosecute or fine social media companies if they fail to remove illegal content, a panel that advises her on ethics said, according to Bloomberg.

Paul Bew, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, called on the government to shift the liability of content to the companies, so they become publishers, not merely platforms for content. The recommendation is the latest in a growing debate about how to tackle online abuse.

The independent ethics watchdog also called for a new offense to be created of intimidating candidates for parliamentary office and their staff after hearing that lawmakers, especially women, have received death, rape and racially-aggravated threats online. In June 2017, Germany became the first European Union member state to pass a law creating time-specific take-down provisions for social media platforms.

Still, the panel's proposal will not pass. The U.K. has no current plans to legislate to prosecute or fine social media companies if they fail to remove illegal content, a person familiar with the matter said. Such a move risks destroying the companies’ business models, although the government refuses to rule out future changes to the law if social media networks don’t clean up their platforms, said the person, who asked not to be named.