The Ada Lovelace Institute, McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) are pleased to co-host this online event to discuss the challenges presented by online harms regulation. There will also be a discussion on how regulators responsible for enforcing these laws may proceed.
National governments are increasingly implementing legislation that addresses online harms with the purpose of creating a safer online environment. Bills of this nature, such as the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Bill, generally work to remove illegal content from websites, along with content that is “legal but harmful.”
New legislation had created regulatory powers for monitoring and inspecting the prevalence of harmful material on a platform. Some civil society groups have raised concerns that these bills conflict with freedom of expression. This panel discussion will explore what a “good” online harms regulation bill looks like, and what should its main purpose be.
As new proposals arise in Canada and the United Kingdom, now is the time to discuss what we can learn from the goals, methods and efficacy of online harms legislation in other jurisdictions.
In this webinar, speakers will discuss:
- What are governments trying to achieve with online safety legislation? How are they defining the problem, and what does success look like?
- What policy mechanisms and requirements are available for them to meet these needs? What kinds of powers (for example, auditing, assessment) or requirements (for example, transparency reports) are necessary?
- What role do civil society organizations and others have to play in these bills?
- How do we ensure international coordination and cooperation on these issues?
This panel will feature:
Chair:
Sonja Solomun
Research Director, Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University
Panellists:
Former M.Sc. student, Oxford Internet Institute (speaking on Brazil)
Director of the Program on Platform Regulation, Cyber Policy Center (speaking on the United States)
Research Fellow, The Citizen Lab (speaking on Canada)
Director, Online Safety Policy, Ofcom (speaking on the United Kingdom)
Head of Unit at the European Commission for Digital Services and Platforms