The UK government wants to create an independent regulator with powers to impose punitive sanctions 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 new regime could be similar to the Information Commissioner 's Office 's current cap of up to 4 % of global revenue . "We will consider all possible options for penalties," Jeremy Wright, the UK's culture secretary, told the BBC earlier this month. This would equal $ 2.2bn for Facebook , based on 2018 revenue , and $ 5.4bn for Google parent company Alphabet . The government is also mulling applying criminal sanctions to companies who fail to reign in their platforms .
The UK government wants to create an independent regulator with powers to impose punitive sanctions 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 new regime could be similar to the Information Commissioner 's Office 's current cap 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 . The government is also mulling applying criminal sanctions to companies who fail to reign in their platforms .