The Office of Communications (Ofcom), UK’s broadcasting and telecommunications authority, has issued a roadmap for tech companies to start preparing to implement the Online Safety Bill.
That’s despite the fact that the bill is still in parliamentary procedure and is yet to pass.
In fact, Ofcom refers to this democratic procedure, the outcome of which should be unknown until MPs vote on the proposal, as a mere technicality: “A countdown to a safer life online.”
Ofcom announced the roadmap document on Twitter, saying that it has presented its plans for the first 100 days of acting as online safety regulator – for when it starts overseeing the implementation of a law that does not yet exist.
And many civil and digital rights advocates are adamant that it should not exist, referring sometimes to the bill as “a censor’s charter.”
Hellbound and Down 