Internet Providers Braced for 'Authoritarianismlite'

The government plans to massively increase internet regulation.

- Stewart Mitchell

INTERNET COMPANIES FACE unprecedented levels of government regulation, assuming the Conservatives secured a victory in the recent General Election.

In a series of proposals described as “authoritarianism lite” by one leading civil rights group, the Conservatives are planning to tighten regulation on social media, adult content and the internet providers themselves. “Some people say that it is not for government to regulate when it comes to technology and the internet…we disagree,” the Conservatives warned.

The document cited habitual targets – such as encryption, pornography and age-verification techniques – and boasted the UK would become “the global leader in the regulation of the use of personal data and the internet”.

The manifesto outlined renewed measures to prevent children accessing adult content, which the Conservatives have made repeated efforts to curb since they came into the coalition government in 2010, arguably without much success. “We will work with industry to introduce new protections forminors, from images of pornography, violence, and other age-inappropriate content not just on social media but in app stores and content sites as well,” the manifesto claimed.

It also said it would “put a responsibility on industry not to direct users – even unintentionally – to hate speech, pornography, or other sources of harm”.