The United Kingdom will elect its next government on July 4th. The last Parliament succeeded in passing the Online Safety Act and establishing a world-leading regulatory regime, but failed to get rights for bereaved parents to access their child’s data and rights for independent researchers to access platform data over the line. Without closing these loopholes, the ambitions of the Online Safety Act will be impossible to realise.
So as the UK heads to the polls, CCDH lays out the challenge for the next government: build on the success of the Online Safety Act, increase data access to close loopholes that undermine the regime, address the economic underpinnings of online hate by reforming digital advertising, and go further to safeguard the digital ecosystem of the future.