Kate Beddoe’s Post

Today is a good day. We are pleased to see the introduction of the Online Harms Bill. We know there will be significant debate & work on all sides before it can become law, but this is a pivotal 1st step toward keeping Canadian children safe online.   The introduction of this bill sets Canada on a path that could bring it in line with the UK, EU & Australia, where similar legal guardrails currently require that online service providers - such as social media companies - meet safety standards designed to protect its users. It’s clear that there is an urgent need for change. https://lnkd.in/eRkTr4R3

Exciting developments in tackling domestic abuse which is increasingly conducted through the digital world. Roll out of the technology used to achieve this as part of Operation Atlas could be game-changing for police forces. I'd like to see it extended beyond crimes held by detectives though and made freely available to response, where so many cases deemed standard or medium risk have a digital element and where further investigation reveals the risk is often much higher and the impact on the victim far greater than first appears.

Because of their role and powers, police organizations are not like other institutions — because of their capacity to control, monitor, and repress citizens — the consequences of unethical police subgroups can be catastrophic for an individual, a group of individuals, a race, an ethnicity, a gender, or for society in general. By what right and why was the right given to the police to intervene at will, or for minor offences, or to intervene without there even being a crime/violation — to impose themselves in situations that regularly degenerate due to their actions and even to the murders of their citizens? On a regular basis, without any right, the police behave as if they were in occupied territory against their citizens. The police have far too much power, over far too many environments, with far too much jurisdiction — their mandate, jurisdiction, status and powers are disproportionately high, and generate a great deal of social injustice. The uniform often attracts groups of individuals with certain personality traits that are not always desirable. A society that polices its police is a healthy society — citizens must always, in a sustained, recurring way, closely supervise their police and give themselves every means to dismiss them if necessary. https://lnkd.in/e3ggM-DM ---

#OnlineSafetyAct – while on one hand, it seeks to protect children under-18 from harmful content, on the other, it challenges social media platforms to comply with the law without disrupting the experience. Our latest white paper, ‘Who is online? Verifying identity in support of the Online Safety Act’ explores the relevance and implications of the Online Safety Act on social media firms and, more importantly, why #Ofcom rates #OpenBanking highly effective for #AgeAssurance. Download the white paper now. https://hubs.la/Q02ckkfs0 #Innovation #OSA #AgeVerification #DigitalID #OpenBanking

The recent Second Report and Order from the Federal Communications Commission brings significant changes to combat 'unwanted and illegal text messages.' Key takeaways include one-to-one consent requirements, clear and conspicuous disclosures, and protection for comparison shopping websites. While controversial, these rules aim to curb the abuse of TCPA consent requirements. Businesses have a 12-month implementation period to adapt. Read the full details and implications here: https://bit.ly/3NHZANy

🖥️ As the Online Safety Bill comes into force, policymakers must regularly review whether to modify the law in order to better hold platforms responsible for user content. 🚨 But the Bill misses out important dimensions of the specific nature of harms and their implications for vulnerable individuals and groups. ⚠️It also continues a method of regulating individual speech through the criminal courts. In this new article, Dr Mihaela Popa-Wyatt questions the practical enforcement of the Online Safety Bill, explores the need for an encompassing definition of harmful speech and suggests an alternative framework involving tax deterrents on harmful content. https://lnkd.in/enU7FY6F

Age assurance in digital services has attracted increased regulatory focus recently in light of the proliferated consumption of digital services and efforts to protect children online. We explain what age assurance means, the scope of associated legal obligations and what organisations need to consider when implementing appropriate solutions. https://lnkd.in/eSnzRKcC #MHCLaw #TechnologyUpdate #AgeAssurance #DigitalServices

The UK has passed a controversial bill that gives Ofcom the power to regulate online content and impose hefty fines for violations. The bill aims to make the UK the safest place online, especially for children, by tackling various online safety concerns, such as illegal content, violence, cyberbullying, and more. Some critics have raised concerns about the potential impact of the bill on web security and privacy, as well as the possibility of mass age-gating on the UK internet. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, has criticized the bill as an instrument of state censorship that could harm free speech and innovation. Ofcom will face the challenge of balancing child safety and civil liberties as it implements the new rules after Royal Assent. The bill also poses a regulatory burden on the UK's digital economy, affecting both major and smaller online services. What do you think of this bill? Do you support it or oppose it? #OnlineSafetyBill #Ofcom #InternetRegulation #ChildSafety #ContentModeration #PrivacyConcerns #WebSecurity #AgeGating #CensorshipDebate #CivilLiberties #DigitalEconomy #RegulatoryBurden https://lnkd.in/g49kqmC7

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Parenting Tips for Online Safety. #saferinternetday