The UK government wants to create an independent regulator with powers to impose punitive fines on tech companies, including Facebook and Google, if they are slow to remove harmful content, from hate speech to misinformation. The digital minister, Margot James, said the sanctions regime could be similar to the Information Commissioner's Office's current fines of up to 4% of global revenue. This would equal $2.2bn for Facebook, based on 2018 revenue, and $5.4bn for Google parent company Alphabet. "We will consider all possible options for penalties," Jeremy Wright, the UK's culture secretary, told the BBC earlier this month. James said: "We will not tolerate companies that use their platforms to spread hatred or promote illegal activity.
The UK government wants to create an independent regulator with powers to impose punitive fines on tech companies, including Facebook and Google, if they are slow to remove harmful content, from hate speech to misinformation. The digital minister, Margot James, said the sanctions regime could be similar to the Information Commissioner's Office's current fines of up to 4% of global revenue. This would equal $2.2bn for Facebook, based on 2018 revenue, and $5.4bn for Google parent company Alphabet. James said: "We will not tolerate companies that use their platforms to spread hatred or promote illegal activity.