As more people rely on the Internet for everything from buying food to watching porn, nations have taken up the challenge of managing the new frontier. As a result, they have enacted internet regulations to mold behavior and manage policy. While some countries censor online content and limit access to specific websites, others regulate privacy and security issues. And in between, some governments try to balance free speech with harm, while others try to protect intellectual property and impose taxes.
Amid these various attempts to control the Internet, there is one issue that has gotten more attention than most: how to deal with cyber bullying and revenge pornography. To this end, the 2015 Enhancing the Online Safety for Children Act in Australia, which requires reporting of cyber bullying to major social media platforms and penalties for violations, has been widely viewed as an effective model.
Internet regulation is also a huge area of law, covering everything from data collection and advertising to encryption and coding. For instance, data protection laws such as GDPR and CCPA dictate the handling of personal information. And the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigates misleading representations made by tech and social media companies about the privacy of consumer data they collect or transfer.
The UK’s latest proposals for internet regulation, outlined in its Online Harms White Paper, mark the first time that a nation has attempted to use regulation to tackle a comprehensive spectrum of online harms. While this could help to reduce some of the most serious problems that users face, there is a risk that trying to hold technology firms accountable for a range of harmful content may generate unintended consequences that damage the core characteristics of the Internet that users value.
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