Tech bosses could face jail after Tory MPs revolt on bill

Tech bosses could face jail time for failing to protect children online, after the government conceded to a backbench rebellion.

Nearly 50 Tory MPs wanted to amend the Online Safety Bill to introduce two-year sentences for managers who fail to stop children seeing harmful material.

The government had been facing defeat, with Labour also supporting the move.

Under a deal with the rebels to stave off defeat, ministers have now promised to introduce similar proposals.

It is the third time that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has backed down in the face of rebellious backbenchers since taking power in October.

It follows concessions late last year on the issues of housing targets for councils and restrictions on onshore wind farms.

The bill would oblige managers of sites hosting user-generated content, including social media sites, to take "proportionate measures" to stop children seeing harmful material.

The draft law says this could be through measures such as age verification, taking content down, and parental controls.

Currently the bill would only make managers criminally liable for failing to give information to media regulator Ofcom, which is set to gain wide-ranging powers to police the internet under the new law.

Making managers liable for a failure to comply with broader safety duties in the bill was rejected after a consultation ahead of the bill's introduction, which concluded it could make the UK tech sector less attractive.

The bill introduces fines of up to 10% of global revenue for companies failing in their legal duties, including to protect children.

However, the Tory rebels had argued that only personal liability for company bosses would ensure the child safety provisions are effective.

Rebels have agreed to withdraw their amendment after talks with Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan over the weekend.

In exchange, the government has now agreed to introduce an amendment of its own along similar lines when the bill gets to the House of Lords - giving ministers more time to work on the wording.

Ms Donelan said the measures, based on a recently-passed law in Ireland, would introduce criminal liability for bosses failing to comply with enforcement notices issued by Ofcom.

She said this would give the bill "additional teeth" and ensure people were held to account if they failed to properly protect children.

She added that criminal penalties, including imprisonment and fines, would be in line with "similar offences".

However, Ms Donelan stressed the proposals would not affect "those who have acted in good faith to comply in a proportionate way".

Speaking in the Commons, leading Tory rebel Miriam Cates said she was "delighted" with the government's commitments, adding that "only personal criminal liability will drive proactive change" in the industry.

"We've seen this is other areas, such as the financial services industry and the construction industry," she added.

Sir Jeremy Wright, a former attorney general, said there was a "strong case" for extending criminal liability - but this must be "appropriately" designed, adding the rebels' amendment had been too broad.

Ms Donelan said the government would also take steps to tackle the advertising of small boat Channel crossings on social media, in response to calls led by Tory MP Natalie Elphicke, who represents Dover.

She said changes to the bill would mean posting videos which showed Channel crossings in a "positive light" could be an offence and platforms would have to "proactively remove" such content.

Labour's shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said the concessions showed the prime minister's "weakness".

She welcomed the proposed changes to the bill but accused the government of "watering down" the legislation, arguing the scope of regulator Ofcom was too narrow.

"The Conservatives have allowed online harms to thrive and proliferate because of their failure to deliver on this legislation which is years in the making," she added.

The Online Safety Bill was introduced in March under Boris Johnson, and has been repeatedly altered during its passage through Parliament.

Its progress was further delayed last month when the government decided to make more changes to the bill.

The bill will now begin what is expected to be a lengthy journey through the House of Lords, after MPs gave their final approval on Tuesday.