The Houses of Parliament have signed off on the Online Safety Bill, which will soon become law. This Bill aims to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online by taking a zero-tolerance approach to child protection. This means that social media platforms will be held responsibile for the content that they host and will face series fines if they do not act quickly to prevent and remove illegal content and stop children from seeing harmful material. 

Social media platforms will now be expected to:

• Enforce age limitations and age-checking measures.
• Provide both parents/carers and children with clear and accessible ways to report online problems.
• Ensure that the risks and dangers posed to children are transparent, including publishing risk assessments where necessary.
• Make sure that illegal content is removed.
• Enforce the promises that they make to age-appropriate users through their terms and conditions.
• Empower their adult users with tools that give them greater control over the content that they see and who they engage with.

Ofcom will fine social media platforms up to £10m or 10% of their global revenue (whichever is biggest) if they do not comply with the aforementioned rules.

You can find out more information here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/a-guide-to-the-online-safety-bill.