Online Safety Bill should be stripped back or abandoned entirely, says IEA expert
13 July 2022
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Commenting on reports that the government’s flagship Online Safety Bill has been dropped from Commons business, Victoria Hewson, Head of Regulatory Affairs at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“The Online Safety Bill delay — after concerns raised by leadership candidates — provides an ideal opportunity to reconsider this highly contentious legislation.
“The Bill not only raises serious free speech issues but has also become complex and unmanageable. The latest amendments have made this situation even worse.
“The Bill should either be abandoned entirely or stripped back to what is absolutely necessary to protect the safety of the most vulnerable.
“It should not seek to protect adults from all sorts of alleged harms at a cost of billions of pounds to businesses, and at the expense of freedom of expression.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
“The Online Safety Bill delay — after concerns raised by leadership candidates — provides an ideal opportunity to reconsider this highly contentious legislation.
“The Bill not only raises serious free speech issues but has also become complex and unmanageable. The latest amendments have made this situation even worse.
“The Bill should either be abandoned entirely or stripped back to what is absolutely necessary to protect the safety of the most vulnerable.
“It should not seek to protect adults from all sorts of alleged harms at a cost of billions of pounds to businesses, and at the expense of freedom of expression.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365 520
IEA spokespeople are available for interview and further comment.
Further IEA reading:
An Unsafe Bill: How the Online Safety Bill threatens free speech, innovation and privacy, by Victoria Hewson and Matthew Lesh
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