UK’s new online safety law adds to crackdown on Big Tech companies

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers have approved an ambitious but controversial new internet safety law with wide-ranging powers to crack down on digital and social media companies like TikTok, Google and Facebook and Instagram parent Meta. The government says the online safety bill passed this week will make Britain the safest place in the world to be online. But digital rights groups say it threatens online privacy and freedom of speech. The new law requires social media platforms to take down illegal content, protect kids online and criminalizes some activity like cyberflashing. It adds to efforts in Europe and elsewhere to clamp down on the freewheeling tech industry dominated by U.S. companies.