UK threatens to incarcerate tech execs if they fail to combat online porn

Keir Starmer’s administration has taken a swing at high-level executives of tech companies who don’t combat the creation and distribution of nonconsensual images. Failing to do so could result in a prison sentence.

Last week, the UK government introduced new amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, which aims to take a bite out of everyday crime, strengthen police powers, and make communities feel safer.

The bill is also designed to protect both children and women from online sexual abuse.

“Building on the government’s work to tackle violence against women and girls, pornography depicting illegal sexual conduct between family members and adults roleplaying as children will be criminalized,” the government promises in a press release.

The same goes for the publication and possession of pornography where an adult is role-playing as a child. These offenses come with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment for publication.

Furthermore, the United Kingdom wants to hold executives from tech companies personally liable if they fail to comply with Ofcom’s enforcement decisions to remove sexually explicit or intimate images that have been shared without consent.

“Too many women have endured the distress of having intimate images shared online without their consent. Today, we are tabling measures to hold tech bosses responsible for preventing this abuse. If they fail to remove these images, they could face jail or substantial fines. This is not an optional requirement, it’s a duty that every tech leader must take seriously,” Kanishja Narayan, Minister for AI and Online Safety, said in a statement.

Baroness Bertin, Lead reviewer of the Independent Pornography Review, is happy with Narayan’s effort to tackle harmful pornographic content and to hold tech execs liable.

“My review is clear that the people who appear in pornography are at a high risk of exploitation, coercion, and violence, which is why the onus should be on pornography platforms to ensure that everyone who appears in pornographic content is over the age of 18 and has given their consent, and that they have the right to withdraw that consent,” he stated.

Back in February, Prime Minister Starmer called the violence against women a “national emergency.” He stated that the posting of nonconsensual intimate images is part of that crisis and that it must stop immediately.

The Cybernews community is talking about this. Be a part of the conversation.

“Too often, those victims have been left to fight alone, chasing takedown of harmful content site to site, reporting the same material again and again, only to see it reappear elsewhere hours later. That is not justice. It is failure,” Starmer wrote.

Since then, intimate and nonconsensual images that are flagged must be taken down within 48 hours. Failing to do so exposes them to fines of up to 10% of their global annual turnover or having their services blocked in the United Kingdom.

Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.