UK gets tough on Meta, Google, TikTok; rolls out new online security rules

Tech companies

Big tech companies — including Meta, Google and others — will face more scrutiny in the United Kingdom. Britain has introduced stringent new regulations targeting major tech companies like Meta, Google, and TikTok. The regulations require platforms to take proactive measures to tackle criminal activities such as child sexual abuse, hate speech, and financial fraud.

UK’s internet regulator Ofcom, in a press release said, “Providers now have a duty to assess the risk of illegal harms on their services, with a deadline of 16 March 2025. Subject to the Codes completing the Parliamentary process, from 17 March 2025, providers will need to take the safety measures set out in the Codes or use other effective measures to protect users from illegal content and activity.”

The UK watchdog further said that it is “ready to take enforcement action if providers do not act promptly to address the risks on their services.”

What Meta, Google and others need to do
As per Ofcom, every site and app in scope of the Online Safety Act will need to complete a “suitable and sufficient” risk assessment. “This means they need to understand the risks illegal harms pose to users on their service, and consider how best to tackle them,” noted Ofcom. Tech companies must also name a senior person responsible for illegal harms, such as terror, hate, and fraud, among many others.

Furthermore, Ofcom is making it clear that children’s profiles and locations – as well as friends and connections — should  not be visible to other users, and non-connected accounts cannot send them direct messages. Children should also receive information to help them make informed decisions around the risks of sharing personal information, and they should not appear in lists of people users might wish to add to their network, said Ofcom.  “This will make it harder for perpetrators of grooming activity to identify and contact vulnerable children,” said Ofcom.

Ofcom also said that women and girls are disproportionately affected by online harms. “Our measures mean users will be able to block and mute others who are harassing or stalking them. Our Codes will also require providers to take down intimate image abuse (or “revenge porn”) material when they become aware of it,” added the UK authority.