London - The draft legislation unveiled in the Parliament on Thursday by the UK government, says tech bosses will face criminal prosecution if they fail to comply with proposed British rules aimed at ensuring people are safe online.

The controversial and ambitious online safety bill would give regulators wide-ranging powers to crack down on digital and social media companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.

Authorities in the United Kingdom are moving to rein in the power of tech platforms and make them more responsible for harmful material such as child sex abuse, racist content, bullying, fraud and other harmful material that proliferates on their platforms. Similar efforts are underway in the European Union and United States.

The government has reinforced the legislation since it was first written after a committee of lawmakers recommended improvements. Changes include giving users more power to block anonymous trolls, requiring porn sites to verify users are 18 or older, and making cyberflashing, ie sending someone unsolicited graphic images, a criminal offense.

Tech executives would be criminally liable two months after the law takes force, instead of two years afterward as proposed in the original draft. Companies could be fined up to 10% of their annual global revenue for violations.

There’s also a wider range of criminal offenses that could result in prison sentences of up to two years in the updated draft.

Tech companies would have to proactively take down illegal content involving revenge porn, hate crime, fraud, ads for drugs or weapons, suicide promotion or assistance, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, on top of the originally proposed terrorism and child physical abuse material.

The bill faces debate in Parliament, where it could be amended before lawmakers vote to approve it as law.
-AP