The United Kingdom is expected to pass legislation to hold social media companies more responsible for how it treats and protects children on their platform.

The U.K. Parliament is getting close to passing the Online Safety Bill, a piece of legislation that will make social media companies legally responsible for how children are treated on their platform in the U.K. This includes requiring websites like Facebook and Google to remove illegal content, prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content, enforcing age limits online and providing parents and children with tools to report problems in the future.

UNFAIR TARGETING OF THE GIG ECONOMY IMPERILS ECONOMIC PROGRESS

Family advocates in the U.K. have praised the decision, claiming it will protect women and children from abuse.

But Big Tech companies have argued that the bill will create security problems that could affect users worldwide.

One of the amendments presented by the OSB would allow the U.K. communications regulator Ofcom to force tech platforms to scan all encrypted messages for evidence of child sex abuse material. Requiring companies to do so would leave a potential backdoor that hackers could use to breach users' data and negate their end-to-end encryption.

"End-to-end encryption is a critical capability that protects the privacy of journalists, human rights activists, and diplomats," Apple told BBC on Wednesday. "It also helps everyday citizens defend themselves from surveillance, identity theft, fraud, and data breaches. The Online Safety Bill poses a serious threat to this protection, and could put U.K. citizens at greater risk. Apple urges the government to amend the bill to protect strong end-to-end encryption for the benefit of all."

Apple previously considered implementing a similar feature in 2021, only to reverse the decision after privacy advocates spoke out about the feature.

Congress is considering similar legislation in the United States that could force similar requirements onto Big Tech companies, including the Kids Online Safety Act and the anti-child porn-focused EARN IT Act. If OSB were to pass, it could make it easier for American lawmakers to justify a similar feature's passage in the United States.

The bill could also harm non-profit web resources like Wikipedia, which lack the funds that Big Tech companies do to cover possible fines or implement the necessary tools.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"In an attempt to weed out the worst parts of the internet, the OSB jeopardizes the best parts of the internet," wrote the Wikimedia Foundation in a letter criticizing the bill. Wikimedia, alongside a coalition of other public interest projects, argues that the OSB's language is too broad and could expose organizations like Wikimedia to "serious fines, U.K. blocking orders, and even staff imprisonment."

The OSB is currently expected to receive Royal Assent and become law this summer.