Social media sites will no longer have to take down material designated “legal but harmful” as part of the government’s proposed plans for online safety.
The Online Safety Bill will be amended and the controversial – but key – measure removed before it is set to go back to parliament next week after repeated delays.
The government said it is making the changes over fears the original plans would have meant the biggest platforms would have had to not only remove illegal content, but also any material that had been named as legal but potentially harmful.
Free speech campaigners claimed governments or tech platforms could use the Bill to censor certain content but charities and opposition parties said it was an important step in protecting children.
Platforms will now be required to remove illegal content and any material that is in breach of their own terms of service.
But instead of platforms removing legal but harmful duties, they will have to provide adults with tools…
