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<p>The draft Online Safety Bill, published in May 2021, will ensure companies design
their platforms to be safer for users, and particularly for children. The new laws
will apply to companies that allow users to post content online or to interact with
each other, which includes social media companies. The draft bill will be subject
to pre-legislative scrutiny in this session. The Joint Committee that will scrutinise
the draft Bill has now been set up, and members from both Houses have now been appointed.</p><p>The
strongest protections in the legislation are for children. Unless social media companies
are able to prove that children are not accessing their service, they will need to
conduct a child safety risk assessment and provide safety measures for child users,
keeping these under regular review. As part of the risk assessment, companies will
need to assess how the design and operation of the service may increase or reduce
the risks identified.</p><p>The government has also published voluntary Safety by
Design guidance in June 2021 that will help companies design safer online services.
In addition, the Information Commissioner’s Age Appropriate Design Code, which will
come into force in September 2021, will set out specific protections for children’s
personal data that companies will need to build in when designing online services
likely to be accessed by children.</p><p> </p>
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