STORY AT-A-GLANCE
September 19, 2023, the U.K. passed a new law to censor online content. The Online Safety Bill has been described as “one of the most far-reaching attempts by Western democracy to regulate online speech”
The bill has been in the works for the last five years, again proving that online censorship is not something that sprang up in response to COVID
In addition to stricter regulations on pornography and content that promotes suicide and self-harm, “vaccine misinformation” and any other material that may be “harmful to health” is also barred under the bill
The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) also recently took effect, and it too requires online companies to actively police their platforms
September 29, 2023, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) also announced all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must now register and conform to regulatory controls