Online safety: Freedom from abuse more important than freedom of speech on the internet, poll finds – iNews

Britons believe freedom from abuse on the internet is more important than protecting freedom of speech, polling on the Governments online harms legislation suggests.

Nearly two thirds (60%) including a majority of both Tory and Labour voters prioritised the right to be protected from violence and abuse over the right for people to say what they want online (24%).

They urged the Government to make tackling abuse the top priority in its Online Safety Bill (44%), with tackling misinformation seen as less important (22%), according to Opinium polling published in a report backed by Compassion in Politics, FairVote UK, Glitch, and Clean Up The Internet.

The draft law will impose a duty of care on internet companies which compels them to remove legal but harmful content, including incitement to self-harm and Covid-19 misinformation.

Ministers argue that the changes will keep children safer online and make web firms responsible for the content they host.

But it has provoked concerns in some quarters.

Tory former Cabinet minister and civil liberties campaigner David Davis has warned it will amount to a censors charter that will allow trolls to escape the consequences of their actions by hiding behind big companies.

Comedian Stephen Fry has meanwhile led warnings that the laws could curb the free speech of LGBT people and other marginalised groups.

But a vast majority (69%) of respondents to the poll said the legislation should go further than planned by protecting adults as well as children from the spread of harmful content.

Under the current draft, platforms will have to publish terms and conditions which make it clear to users that content which is harmful to adults may be removed, but not act proactively to stop the circulation of harmful content, according to the report.

Racism (64%), hate (62%) and personal insults (57%) were identified the top priorities for social media companies to tackle on their platforms, with around half also calling for action against homophobic, xenophobic, ableist, sexist and transphobic content.

Jennifer Nadel, co-director of Compassion in Politics, said: This is a public mandate for the government to be bold and ambitious in tackling the scourge of online abuse and misinformation.

Its current proposals fall way short their draft Online Safety Bill marks yet another concession to the big social media companies who will continue to determine exactly how far they should go in moderating abusive content and judging how good they are at doing so. It is like giving the poachers the key to the chicken coop.

Kyle Taylor, Director of Fair Vote UK said: Big tech have shown time and again that they are incapable of regulating themselves.

From Covid disinformation that has led to loss of human life to racist abuse targeted at footballers and public servants, the evidence is clear and something must be done.

:: Opinium carried out the research on behalf of Compassion in Politics, FairVote UK, Glitch, and Clean Up The Internet. A representative poll of 2,000 adults was conducted online on 13 August.

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Online safety: Freedom from abuse more important than freedom of speech on the internet, poll finds - iNews