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<p>The government is committed to tackling misogyny, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia,
including the spread of such content online. On 12 May 2021, we published the draft
Online Safety Bill, which sets out new expectations on companies to keep their users
safe online. Under a new legal duty of care, in-scope companies, including social
media, will need to tackle misogynistic, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic content
and activity that is illegal, if it is on their services.</p><p>In addition, companies
with the largest audiences and with high-risk features will need to assess the risk
to adults of legal but harmful content on their services. They must also set clear
terms and conditions stating what legal but harmful material they accept (and do not
accept) on their service. Companies will have to do this for both priority harms which
the government will set out in secondary legislation and for any emerging harms they
identify in their risk assessments.</p><p>These duties will apply to misogynistic,
homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate speech, which do not meet the threshold
of a criminal offence. Companies will need to enforce their terms and conditions consistently
and transparently, and could face enforcement action if they do not. All companies
in scope will be required to have effective and accessible user reporting and redress
mechanisms.</p><p> </p>
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