UK minister pushes regulator to speed up online safety enforcement

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LONDON (Reuters) -British technology minister Liz Kendall urged the communications regulator Ofcom to speed up enforcement of tougher online safety rules designed to protect children from harm, saying on Wednesday that she was concerned about delays.

“I remain deeply concerned that delays in implementing duties, such as user empowerment, could hinder our work to protect women and girls from harmful content and protect users from antisemitism,” Kendall said in a letter to Ofcom.

Ofcom has been phasing in the Online Safety Act, which imposes tough new requirements on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X, as well as sites hosting pornography, to protect children and remove illegal content.

The watchdog said it planned to publish a register categorising which companies will be required to verify its users and be subject to other duties around July, a year later than its previous deadline.

An Ofcom spokesperson said the delay was caused by factors beyond its control, in particular a legal challenge that raised “complex issues”.

In August, Wikipedia operator Wikimedia Foundation’s case against parts of the law was dismissed by London’s High Court, but the judge said the company could bring a further challenge if regulator Ofcom deemed Wikipedia to be a so-called Category 1 service – the highest tier under the new rules.

The law has been criticised by free speech activists and some U.S. companies who say its broad implementation has censors legal content, while supporters argue it forces companies to take greater responsibility over their platforms.

(Reporting by Muvija M, Editing by Paul Sandle)