UK toughens Online Safety Act with ban on self-harm content

"Tech companies will be legally required to prevent content involving self-harm from appearing on their platforms - rather than responding and removing it - in a planned amendment to the UK's controversial Online Safety Act."

"In her first outing as newly appointed science and technology minister, Liz Kendall said the government is determined to keep people safe online. "Vile content that promotes self-harm continues to be pushed on social media and can mean potentially heart-wrenching consequences for families across the country," she said. "Our enhanced protections will make clear to social media companies that taking immediate steps to keep users safe from toxic material that could be the difference between life and death is not an option, but the law.""

The UK will classify self-harm content as a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, obligating platforms to proactively prevent such material from being published. Platforms must take proactive measures to seek out and eliminate self-harm content before it reaches users, extending beyond existing duties to remove images involving children. The change aims to strengthen protections to reduce harm and potential fatalities linked to damaging suicide and self-harm content. The amendment received support from suicide-prevention advocates and draws on Ofcom’s enforcement powers. The Act has prompted privacy concerns and warnings from some private messaging services about potential impacts.

Read at Theregister