By: John Naughton
April 14, 2019
On Monday last week, the government published its long-awaited white paper on online harms. It was launched at the British Library by the two cabinet ministers responsible for it – Jeremy Wright of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the home secretary, Sajid Javid. Wright was calm, modest and workmanlike in his introduction. Javid was, well, more macho. The social media companies had had their chances to put their houses in order. “They failed,” he declared. “I won’t let them fail again.” One couldn’t help feeling that he had one eye on the forthcoming hustings for the Tory leadership.
Nevertheless, this white paper is a significant document. It marks the first time that the government of a major country has decided to regulate the companies that now dominate the online world. Other countries (Singapore, Australia and Germany to name just three) have already had a go, but their efforts have been partial, reactive and sometimes half-arsed. The UK white paper tries to address the problem at a broader level.