The Online Harms White Paper is a

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

produced by the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

in April 2019. It lays out the government's proposals on dealing with "online harms", which it defines as "online content or activity that harms individual users, particularly children, or threatens our way of life in the UK, either by undermining national security, or by reducing trust and undermining our shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities to foster integration", but excluding harm to businesses, harm from

data breach A data breach is a security violation, in which sensitive, protected or confidential data is copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen or used by an individual unauthorized to do so. Other terms are unintentional information disclosure, data leak, info ...

es, and harm caused by activity on the

dark web The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on ''darknets'': overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communi ...

, all of which are dealt with by other government initiatives. The government's proposed solution to these problems is to introduce a wide-ranging regime of

Internet regulation Mass media regulations are rules enforced by the jurisdiction of law. Guidelines for media use differ across the world. This regulation, via law, rules or procedures, can have various goals, for example intervention to protect a stated "public inte ...

in the United Kingdom, enforcing codes of practice on Internet companies, which would be subject to a statutory

duty of care In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation that is imposed on an individual, requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be establis ...

, and the threat of punishment or blocking if the codes are not complied with. Following the abandonment of the

proposed UK Internet age verification system With the passing of the Digital Economy Act 2017, the United Kingdom became the first country to pass a law containing a legal mandate on the provision of an Internet age verification system. Under the Act, websites that published pornography on a ...

in October 2019, the

Culture Secretary The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department f ...

Nicky Morgan Nicola Ann Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Cotes, (; born 10 October 1972) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 to 2016 and Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, ...

stated that the government would seek to follow the White Paper's approach to regulation as an alternative.

References

External links

* https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper White papers Mass media regulation Social media 2019 in the United Kingdom Internet censorship in the United Kingdom 2019 documents {{UK-poli-stub

See also

References

External links