Reports confirm that British regulators have unveiled a breakthrough proposal, drafted by the leading consumer-protection authorities of the United Kingdom, to penalize Google, Facebook and other tech giants that fail to stop the spread of harmful content online, signifying a new regulatory threat for an industry that has long avoided responsibility for what its users share or say. 

Apparently, the authorities target an extensive range of web content which includes false news, child exploitation, extreme violence and terrorist activity. If this drafted proposal is approved by the parliament then UK regulators would be able to issue fines and other kinds of punishment when social media sites fail to quickly remove the most appalling photos, videos or posts from public view.

Sources familiar with the matter informed the blueprint of the British Officials would result in world leading laws that make UK the safest place in the world to be online. In addition, there is an increased possibility that the major technology companies’ top executives could be held directly responsible for failing to police their platforms.  

For Silicon Valley, the rules of UK could lead to the most critical regulatory repercussions the tech industry has faced worldwide for not clearing up a host of concerning online content, sources mentioned.

Issues were highlighted last month when the videos of the deadly shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand had proliferated online, despite increased investments by Google, Twitter and Facebook on more powerful tech tools for stopping these kind of posts from going viral.

Sources further added that the regulators have pointed out a host of possible concern areas which include coercive behavior, hate speech and underage exposure to prohibited content. Many other details such as how harmful content is defined, how long companies will have to remove them, and other such details were yet to be determined.