--- description: New policy proposals call for an independent regulator and will make executives personally liable for harmful content on their platforms. title: U.K. Proposes Tough New Regulations for Social Media image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6398d8969df51f06/698947ecdb2987010a2621eb/uk-social-media-harmful-content.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.K. Authorities Propose Making Social Media Executives Personally Responsible for Harmful Content ## Video: New Zealand Bans Military-Style Weapons Following the Christchurch Mosque Shootings [Watch (HLS stream): New Zealand Bans Military-Style Weapons Following the Christchurch Mosque Shootings](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GYBnTZfK.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2019-03-21. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on semi-automatic and automatic weapons like the ones used in the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers._ by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Apr 8, 2019 9:58 AM CUT  PARIS, FRANCE - APRIL 06: In this photo illustration, the logo of the Messenger and Facebook applications are displayed on the screen of an Apple iPhone on April 06, 2018 in Paris. In the midst of turmoil following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook faces a host of questions regarding its privacy and confidentiality practices. Messenger, the messaging application launched by Facebook, is in the center of attention. Indeed, Facebook allows itself to analyze the links and images that users send to Messenger and even to read the messages exchanged if they are posted, in order to make sure that the contents comply with the conditions of use. This increased monitoring of Facebook within its messaging application was confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg a few days ago.(Photo Illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images) PARIS, FRANCE - APRIL 06: In this photo illustration, the logo of the Messenger and Facebook applications are displayed on the screen of an Apple iPhone on April 06, 2018 in Paris. In the midst of turmoil following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook faces a host of questions regarding its privacy and confidentiality practices. Messenger, the messaging application launched by Facebook, is in the center of attention. Indeed, Facebook allows itself to analyze the links and images that users send to Messenger and even to read the messages exchanged if they are posted, in order to make sure that the contents comply with the conditions of use. This increased monitoring of Facebook within its messaging application was confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg a few days ago.(Photo Illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)Getty Images by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. Apr 8, 2019 9:58 AM CUT U.K. authorities say they want to hold social media executives personally liable for [harmful content](https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/uk-unveils-plans-hold-social-media-bosses-liable-harmful-content-doc-1fg5ac1 "undefined") circulated on their platforms in a new policy paper released Monday, reports AFP. The newly-published [_Online Harms White Paper_](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper "undefined") sets out guidelines to tackle the spread of violent content, suicide encouragement, disinformation, and cyber bullying as well as requirements for companies to take action to prevent terrorist content, child sexual exploitation and abusive content. The regulations also call for an independent regulator to be set up to enforce the rules. “Online companies must start taking responsibility for their platforms, and help restore public trust in this technology,” Prime Minister Theresa May [said in a statement.](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-to-introduce-world-first-online-safety-laws "undefined") The measures would apply to social media, file hosting sites, chat forums, messaging services and search engines. Companies stand to face tough punishments under the proposed policies if they do not comply. “We are consulting on powers to issue substantial fines, block access to sites and potentially to impose liability on individual members of senior management,” the government said in its statement. **Read More:** [_WhatsApp Has Added a New Security Feature In an Attempt to Crackdown on Misinformation_](http://time.com/5564109/whatsapp-fake-news-security-group-restrictions/ "undefined") While experts believe this is a step in the right direction, the implementation of the policies may not be straightforward. “A standardized code of practice would be valuable in promoting cross-platform collaboration, but the proposals raise a number of practical issues that still need to be worked out,” Stuart Macdonald, cyber-terrorism expert and professor of law at Swansea University, tells TIME. “For example, will the regulatory approach differ for smaller tech companies, whose lack of capacity is exploited by terrorist groups?” Social media regulation gained a renewed focus in recent weeks after 17 minutes of the deadly [New Zealand mosque shooting](http://time.com/5552219/new-zealand-shooting-what-to-know/ "undefined") was [live-streamed](http://time.com/5554351/facebook-new-zealand-mosque-shooting-broadcast/ "undefined") on Facebook before the company removed it. Other social media sites like Youtube, Twitter, Reddit and Instagram scrambled to block and delete copies of the video as versions uploaded by users [went viral](http://time.com/5552367/new-zealand-shooting-video-facebook-youtube-twitter/ "undefined"). Other countries have taken steps to regulate online content after the New Zealand attack. Last week, lawmakers in Australia passed [new legislation](http://time.com/5564851/australia-social-media-law-violence/ "undefined") to hold social media accountable what is shared on their platforms. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5565843/united-kingdom-social-media-regulations/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5565843/united-kingdom-social-media-regulations/"},"headline":"U.K. Authorities Propose Making Social Media Executives Personally Responsible for Harmful Content","datePublished":"2019-04-08T09:58:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:52:01.385Z","description":"Tough new proposals also call for an independent regulator","url":"https://time.com/5565843/united-kingdom-social-media-regulations/","keywords":["Tech","Social Media","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6398d8969df51f06/698947ecdb2987010a2621eb/uk-social-media-harmful-content.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amy Gunia","jobTitle":"Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong.","url":"https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6398d8969df51f06/698947ecdb2987010a2621eb/uk-social-media-harmful-content.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"uk-social-media-harmful-content","caption":"UK Social Media Harmful Conent","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5565843/united-kingdom-social-media-regulations/","name":"U.K. Authorities Propose Making Social Media Executives Personally Responsible for Harmful Content"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"New Zealand Bans Military-Style Weapons Following the Christchurch Mosque Shootings","description":"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an immediate ban Thursday on semi-automatic and automatic weapons like the ones used in the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch that killed 50 worshippers.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GYBnTZfK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-03-21T03:11:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GYBnTZfK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5565843/united-kingdom-social-media-regulations/","duration":"PT1M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5565843/united-kingdom-social-media-regulations/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```