Government paper proposes how to tackle online harms
An independent body should regulate digital companies and have the ability to impose fines on those that breach their duty of care according to a joint Department for Culture Media and Sport and Home Office report. The long-awaited Online Harms White Paper echoes recent calls for tougher regulation including from the House of Lords ‘Regulating in a Digital World’ report and DCMS’s report on fake news and disinformation.
The Paper calls for digital companies to outline measures they are taking to ensure a duty of care through signing up to a code of practice as well as a series of proposals to tackle the prevalence of harmful content, including “false or misleading information”. These measures include social media companies having to submit annual ‘transparency reports’ report on the levels of this content on their platforms.
This Paper is a welcome addition to the conversation around tackling the ills of harmful online content and the spread of disinformation online. The paper accepts that self-regulation has failed. It is therefore right that the law addresses this in a way that allows it to keep pace with advances in the digital world and ensure tech companies operate freely, but regulated to a clear set of standards expected of any other kind of business.
CIPR's 2015 manifesto and 2017's Election Commentary called on the UK Government to "continue to involve itself in questions of internet governance and ask that it seeks to provide effective leadership.
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners in the UK and overseas. The CIPR is the largest membership organisation for PR practitioners outside of North America. By size of turnover and number of individually registered members, we are the leading representative body for the PR profession and industry in Europe.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).