Can the UK child-proof the internet?

Late last week, the UK government implemented a new set of rules from its Online Safety Act to keep children away from quote, “harmful and age-inappropriate content”.

Companies ranging from pornography websites, social media platforms, and large search engines will need to comply by building guardrails that would prevent children from accessing porn, or material that promotes self-harm or eating disorders, for example.

This includes age verification, along with changes to algorithm settings so that they’re not recommending content that’s considered harmful to kids.

For many children’s safety advocates this is a step in the right direction. But others have concerns about civil liberties, privacy and censorship.

Samantha Cole is a journalist with 404 Media. She’s been covering how similar online safety rules have been playing out in the U.S.

Samantha was also the host of CBC Understood’s The Pornhub Empire, a four part series on the biggest porn website in the world.

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