Harmful messaging offences added to online safety bill

Sending "genuinely threatening" or "knowingly false" messages are among new criminal offences being added to proposed online safety laws.

If passed, the government's online safety bill could see social networks fined 10% of their global turnover if they fail to remove harmful content.

The latest changes mean social networks will also have to proactively find and block harmful content.

The bill also covers human trafficking, extremism and promoting suicide online.

It already stated that websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, that host user-generated content would have to swiftly remove illegal content once it was reported to them.

Now they will also have to put in place proactive measures to stop illegal activity.

The issue has become a talking point recently with the racist abuse of footballers, revenge **** and cyberflashing, and Covid disinformation being highlighted as key safety concerns for social media companies to address.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries urged online platforms to start making the changes now before the bill comes into force.