Campaigners against antisemitism welcome changes to government’s Online Harms Bill
Antisemitism Policy Trust's chief executive Danny Stone praises Baroness Morgan over support to improve scope of legislation on small, high harm platforms
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Campaigners against antisemitism have welcomed improvements to government legislation seeking to make for social media companies take responsibility for harmful and illegal content online and make it safer for users.
The Online Safety Bill returned to the House of Commons on Tuesday for final debates of Lords’ amendments and is now expected to become law by the end of this year.
One change to the scope of the bill, welcomed by those exposing anti-Jewish hate, was over so-called “small high-harm platforms” who it was feared would use loopholes to escape being impacted by the legislation .
The Antisemitism Policy Trust’s chief executive Danny Stone told Jewish News: “I’m delighted to see this important change to the Online Safety Bill.
“We have been making the case for action on small, high harm platforms since before the bill was introduced to parliament several years ago.
“Our work has regularly been cited in this regard. The change makes the bill a better and more effective piece of legislation. I am grateful to Baroness Morgan and all those across parliament and outside it who helped deliver this result.”
In Tuesday’s Commons debate Alex Davies-Jones, Labour’s shadow tech minister, also praised Stone’s organisation along with the Community Security Trust and Hope Not Hate for their work campaigning to ensure the bill included small, high harm platforms such as Bitchute.
The MP said in the Commons:”While we have been having this debate the CST has exposed BitChute, one of those small high harm platforms for geoblocking some of the hate to comply with legislation but then advertising loopholes and ways to get around that on the platform.”
The bill places a duty of care on all firms to protect adult users from illegal content such as child sexual abuse images, revenge pornography, threats to kill, selling firearms and terrorist material. Tech platforms have to proactively prevent that material from reaching users.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
