Britain tempers controversial plans to make Big Tech remove harmful content

Published

3 years ago

November 29, 2022

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The U.K.’s Online Safety Bill, which aims to regulate the internet, has been revised to remove a controversial but critical measure.

Matt Cardy | Getty Images News | Getty Images

LONDON — Social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok and Twitter will no longer be obliged to take down “legal but harmful” content under revisions to the U.K.’s proposed legislation for online safety.

The Online Safety Bill, which aims to regulate the internet, will be revised to remove the controversial but critical measure, British lawmakers announced Monday.

The government said the amendment would help preserve free speech and give people greater control over what they see online.

However, critics have described the move as a “major weakening” of the bill, which risks undermining the accountability of tech companies.

The previous proposals would have tasked tech giants with preventing people from seeing legal but harmful content, such as self-harm, suicide and abusive posts online.

Under the revisions — which the government dubbed a “consumer-friendly ‘triple shield'” — the onus for content selection will instead shift to internet users, with tech companies instead required to introduce a system that allows people to filter out harmful content they do not want to see.

Crucially, though, firms will still need to protect children and remove content that is illegal or prohibited in their terms of service.

‘Empowering adults,’ ‘preserving free speech’

U.K. Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said the new plans would ensure that no “tech firms or future government could use the laws as license to censor legitimate views.”

“Today’s announcement refocuses the Online Safety Bill on its original aims: the pressing need to protect children and tackle criminal activity online while preserving free speech, ensuring tech firms are accountable to their users, and empowering adults to make more informed choices about the platforms they use,” the government said in a statement.

The opposition Labour party said the amendment was a “major weakening” of the bill, however, with the potential to fuel misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Replacing the prevention of harm with an emphasis on free speech undermines the very purpose of this bill.

Lucy Powell

shadow culture secretary, Labour Party

“Replacing the prevention of harm with an emphasis on free speech undermines the very purpose of this bill, and will embolden abusers, COVID deniers, hoaxers, who will feel encouraged to thrive online,” Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell said.

Meantime, suicide risk charity group Samaritans said increased user controls should not replace tech company accountability.

“Increasing the controls that people have is no replacement for holding sites to account through the law and this feels very much like the government snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,” Julie Bentley, chief executive of Samaritans, said.

The devil in the detail

Monday’s announcement is the latest iteration of the U.K.’s expansive Online Safety Bill, which also includes guidelines on identity verification tools and new criminal offences to tackle fraud and revenge porn.

It follows months of campaigning by free speech advocates and online protections groups. Meantime, Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has thrown online content moderation into renewed focus.

The proposals are now set to go back to the British Parliament next week, before being intended to become law before next summer.

However, commentators say further honing of the bill is required to ensure gaps are addressed before then.

“The devil will be in the detail. There is a risk that Ofcom oversight of social media terms and conditions, and requirements around ‘consistency,’ could encourage over-zealous removals,” Matthew Lesh, head of public policy at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said.

Communications and media regulator Ofcom will be responsible for much of the enforcement of the new law, and will be able to fine companies up to 10% of their worldwide revenue for non-compliance.

“There are also other issues that the government has not addressed,” Lesh continued. “The requirements to remove content that firms are ‘reasonably likely to infer’ is illegal sets an extremely low threshold and risks preemptive automated censorship.”

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Airbnb beats on top and bottom lines for second quarter

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2 hours ago

August 6, 2025

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Airbnb beats on top and bottom lines for second quarter

Cheng Xin | Getty Images

Airbnb reported second-quarter results on Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations.

Here’s how the company did based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $1.03 vs. 93 cents expected
Revenue: $3.10 billion vs. $3.04 billion expected

Revenue increased 13% from $2.75 billion during the same period last year. The company reported net income of $642 million, or $1.03 per share, up from $555 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.

In the third quarter, Airbnb expects to report revenue of $4.02 billion to $4.10 billion, or $4.06 billion in the middle of the range. Analysts were expecting $4.05 billion for the period, according to LSEG.

In a letter to shareholders, the company said it had a strong second quarter, even against a volatile macroeconomic backdrop. U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff and trade policies plunged markets into chaos for much of April.

“Despite global economic uncertainty early in the quarter, travel demand picked up, and nights booked on Airbnb accelerated from April to July,” the company said.

Airbnb reported 134.4 million nights and seats booked, up 7% from a year ago and above the 133.35 million expected by StreetAccount.

Gross booking value, which Airbnb uses to report host earnings, service fees, cleaning fees and taxes, totaled $23.5 billion in the second quarter. That figure is above the $22.66 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount.

Airbnb said it received authorization for new share repurchase program of up to an additional $6 billion of Class A common stock. The company said it repurchased $1 billion of Class A common stock during the second quarter, and previously had authorization to purchase $1.5 billion more as of June 30.

Airbnb shares were down slightly in extended trading. They’ve slipped 0.7% for the year as of Wednesday’s close, while the Nasdaq is up almost 10%.

Airbnb will hold its quarterly call with investors at 4:30 p.m. ET.

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Technology

DoorDash shares rise on earnings, revenue beat

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2 hours ago

August 6, 2025

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DoorDash shares rise on earnings, revenue beat

Doordash food delivery service in New York City on Feb. 13, 2025.

Danielle DeVries | CNBC

DoorDash shares climbed about 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after the food delivery company reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter.

Here’s how the company did compared to analyst estimates based on LSEG’s consensus:

Earnings per share: 65 cents vs. 44 cents expected
Revenue: $3.28 billion vs. $3.16 billion expected

Revenue jumped 25% from $2.63 billion a year earlier, DoorDash said in a press release. The company reported net income of $285 million, or 65 cents a share, after recording a loss of $157 million, or 38 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Orders increased 20% from a year earlier to 761 million. Gross order value (GOV) rose 23% to $24.2 billion.

DoorDash shares have soared 54% this year as of Wednesday’s close, lifting the company’s market cap to $109 billion. The Nasdaq is up almost 10% in 2025.

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Doordash one day stock chart.

Delivery and rideshare stocks have strong demand and growth, says Bernstein's Nikhil Devnani

Technology

Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi unit clears regulatory hurdle, safety probe

Published

2 hours ago

August 6, 2025

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Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi unit is ramping up vehicle production at a new facility in Hayward, California.

Zoox

Amazon‘s Zoox has cleared a key regulatory hurdle, paving the way for demonstrations of its self-driving robotaxis.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it granted Zoox an exemption from some requirements, a first for U.S.-built vehicles under a recently expanded program.

“Transportation innovators can be confident in getting speedy review of their vehicles and, as appropriate, exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Peter Simshauser said in a release.

The company must remove all existing statements that its purpose-built vehicles meet all federal motor vehicle safety standards.

As part of the announcement, NHTSA said it’s closing a probe opened in March 2023 into Zoox’s self-certification that its robotaxi met federal safety standards.

“Through this new exemption process, we are excited to embark on this new path, put these discussions behind us, and move forward,” Zoox said in a statement.

The Department of Transportation in April announced it would expand a program that aims to speed up the autonomous vehicle exemption process to include domestically produced vehicles. Previously, it was limited to imported AVs.