To be clear the Government is making private companies legally resposible for what we, individuals, say to each other. This explicitly requires mass surveillance & censorship.
This is going to be a disaster for privacy & free speech online.
The result? Social media companies have to police private conversations.
It subjects lawful speech online to state-sponsored censorship, imposed by an unelected regulator. This directly undermines the right to free expression.
So expect state-sponsored upload filters, recommendation systems & mass surveillance.
But deputising the likes of Facebook to police *lawful* conversations; to impose *even more* surveillance on their platforms; state-sponsored control of recommendation systems & upload filters?
If the Online Harms Bill looks anything like the white paper, it will be a direct attack on the fundamental right to freedom of expression. We will fight these proposals.