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Mark Jones, partner at Payne Hicks Beach states:
Ofcom was not “clamping down on free speech”. He said that in practice, it delegated to the platforms about how they monitor content, beyond illegal material. “An example is in relation to misogynistic and hypermasculine content,” he said. “Ofcom wrote to social media platforms to urge them to go ‘above and beyond’ their legal obligations under the online safety act, even though the content itself isn’t illegal.
“Free speech advocates say that this is going to bring about a culture of ‘if in doubt, cut it out’ as platforms seek to avoid being subject to Ofcom’s enforcement powers. On the other side, we have Musk and [Meta chief executive Mark] Zuckerberg who have spoken out about the online safety laws in the UK and ‘institutionalising censorship’. Duties in relation to misogynistic content, for example, are voluntary unlike the requirements to tackle illegal content and child safety.”
For further information, please contact Mark Jones or your usual contact in the Dispute Resolution Department or, alternatively, telephone on 020 7693 5875
