TechScape: How the UK’s online safety bill aims to clean up the internet

The online safety bill will, in part, attempt to protect children from harmful internet content, and will be regulated by Ofcom. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Deepfakes, viral online challenges and protecting freedom of expression: the online safety bill sprawls across many corners of the internet and it’s about to become official. The much-debated legislation is due to receive royal assent, and therefore become law, imminently.

The purpose of the act is to make sure tech firms have the right moderating systems and processes in place to deal with harmful material. “This means a company cannot comply by chance,” says Ben Packer, a partner at the law firm Linklaters. “It must have systems and processes in place to, for instance, minimise the length of time for which illegal content is present.”