Financial experts today said the draft Online Safety Bill did not go far enough in protecting users and might even make the situation worse.
The bill which is specifically aimed protecting online users from scams and abuse includes things like limiting access to potentially harmful images and fraud, as opposed to cyber attacks on data.
Recommendations include companies appoint a safety controller who would be personally liable should the organisation fail to comply with the new laws.
A digital ombudsman would be established to deal with complaints by individuals against platforms, introducing codes of conduct that tackle “rabbit hole” algorithms.
Social media companies would also have to install mechanisms to deal with harmful anonymous accounts and reveal how many underage users are on their platforms.
The legislation also hopes to create a new criminal offence for ‘cyberflashing’, which pertains sending obscene images online, as well as punishing tech platforms for hosting potentially fraudulent adverts.
Scams involving online shopping, investment fraud and catfish romance scams have rising steeply since 2019, according to The Office of the City Remembrancer.
However, commentators argue that the bill doesn’t go far enough, and may even be weaker than the current laws in place.
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said, “The Online Safety Bill needs to protect us from online fraud, so the fact that the draft bill could end up actually weakening existing protections is alarming.”
For example, paid adverts aren’t included, and that is a large part of how fraudsters trap their victims online, luring them in through the ads.
Further, providers are not required to be proactive in removing fraud on their sites.
Coles says “providers only have a duty to remove fraud when it’s reported by users. And there’s a risk that it’s only likely to be reported by users when they have fallen victim.”
The bill has also received criticism from within Parliament.
The Labour Party welcome it, but strongly believe it does not go far in to tackle the issues of online fraud.
This is echoed by Interactive Investor, who say that it “still falls on individuals to avoid financial harm – there is no getting around it.”