Ofcom, Internet Security Regulator in the UK, has published another new guide after continuing to implement the Online Security Act (OSA)-The latest group of recommendations aim to support firms in space to meet legal obligations To protect women and girls from online threats such as harassment and harassment, misogyny and intimate image abuse.
The government has said the protection of women and girls is an advantage over its implementation of OSA. Some forms of misogynist abuse of (mainly) misogynist – such as sharing intimate images without consent or using it to create deepfact pornography that aims for individuals – are clearly defined by law as implementing advantages.
The Security Internet Regulation, which was approved by the United Kingdom Parliament in September 2023, has faced criticism that it does not belong to the task of reforming the giants of the platform, despite containing considerable fines for not respecting-respected-resorting in 10% of global annual turnover.
Child safety campaigners have also expressed disappointment as long as it is taking to enforce the law, as well as suspecting if it will have the desired effect.
In an interview with the BBC in January, even the Minister of Technology Peter Kyle – which inherited the legislation from the previous government – called it “very unequal” and “unsatisfactory”. But the government is staying with the approach. Part of the dissatisfaction about OSA can be traced back to the long ministers of the permitted leadership time to implement the regime, which requires Parliament to approve the compliance guidance of OFCom.
However, implementation is expected to begin soon in relation to the essential requirements for the treatment of illegal content and protection of children. Other aspects of OSA compatibility will last longer to implement. And ofcom acknowledges this last package of practice recommendations will not be fully applicable by 2027 or later.
Approaching the starting line of implementation
“The first tasks of the online security act are coming into force next month,” Techcrunch Jessica Smith of OFCom told Techcrunch, who led the development of female focus focus guidelines in an interview. “So we will apply against some of the essential tasks of the online security law before this instruction (itself becomes applicable).”
Draft New Instruction on Keeping Secure Women and Girls Online is intended to meet the broadest guidelines for illegal content – which also provide recommendations for protection of juveniles from viewing content adults online.
In December, the regulator published his latest instructions on how platforms and services should reduce the risks associated with illegal content, an area where child protection is a clear advantage.
It has also produced the Child Safety Code, which recommends online services to call age controls and filter content to ensure that children are not exposed to inappropriate content such as pornography. And while working towards implementing the online security regime, there is also recommendations developed for age insurance technologies for adult content websites, with the aim of pushing porn sites to take effective steps that prevent juveniles enter the content inappropriate for age.
The latest set of guidelines was developed with the help of victims, survivors, women’s advocacy groups and security experts for OFCom. It covers four main areas where the regulator says women are disproportionately affected by internet damage – namely: Misogyny on the Internet; gatherings and teasing online; Family abuse online; and intimate image abuse.
Security by design
The high line recommendation of the Offcom requires space services and platforms to get a “design safety” approach. Smith told us that the regulator wants to encourage technology firms to “take a step back” and “think about their user experience in the round”. While she acknowledged that some services have imposed some measures that are useful in shrinking online risks in the field, she argued that there is still a lack of comprehensive thinking when it comes to advantage of the safety of women and girls.
“What we really are looking for is just a kind of change step in the way design processes work,” she told us, saying the goal is to ensure that security considerations are matured in the design of the product.
She emphasized the increase in the image generating services of he, which she noted to have led to a “massive” increase in abuse of intimate image as an example of where technologists could have taken proactive measures to captured the dangers of their tools armed to target women and girls – yet it did not.
“We think there are sensitive things that services could do in the design phase, which would help to address the risk of some of those injuries,” she suggested.
Examples of “good” industry practices of key points of instruction include online services that take actions such as:
- Removal of geolocation as default (to reduce the risks of intimacy/threat);
- Performing “abuse” testing to identify how a service can be armed/misused;
- Undertaking steps to increase account security;
- Designing users’ requirements that are intended to make posters think twice before posting abusive content;
- And by providing accessible reporting tools that allow users to report problems.
As is the case with all the OSA instructions of OFCom, not every measure will be important for any type or size of service – as the law applies to large and small internet services, and cuts in different arenas, From social media to online meetings, games, forums and messages applications, to mention some. So a large part of the work for companies in space will be to understand what compliance in the context of their product means.
When asked if OfCom had identified any service that currently met the instruction standards, Smith suggested they did not have. “There is still a lot of work to do all over the industry,” she said.
She also quietly admitted that there may be increasing challenges given some of the retrograde steps taken in the face of confidence and security by some major industry players. For example, since taking on Twitter and renovating social network such as X, Elon Musk has destroyed his confidence and his security – in favor of following what he has adapted as a maximum approach to free speech .
In recent months, the meta-which possesses Facebook and Instagram that has taken some imitative steps, saying it is ending thirty parties of fact control contracts in favor of establishing a “community notes” system of X style of tagging crowds for content disputes, for example.
TRANSPARENCY
Smith suggested that OFCom’s response to such high-level shifts-where operators’ actions may endanger the call, rather than eradicated, damage to the internet-will focus on using transparency and gathering information it has Under OSA to illustrate influences and drive the user awareness.
So, in short, the tactic here seems determined to be “name and shame” – at least in the first place.
“Once we complete the guidance, we will produce a report (market) … who is using the guidance, who is following what steps, what kind of results are getting to their users who are women and girls, and really shine A light on what defenses are in place on different platforms so that users can make informed choices of where they spend their time online, ”she told us.
Smith suggested that companies wanting to avoid the risk of publicly shame on poor women’s security performance will be able to turn to OFCom guidelines for “practical steps” on how to improve the situation for their users, and address the risk of reputation damage as well.
“The UK platforms will have to respect the law in the UK,” she added in the context of discussing the main platforms that reveal faith and security. “So this means respecting the harmful duties and the protection of children’s duties under the online security law.”
“I think our transparency powers are introduced here – if the industry is changing direction and the damage is increasing, here we will be able to shine a light and share relevant information with the UK users, with the media, with parliamentarians.”
Technical to handle deepfake porn
A type of internet damage where ofCom is clearly increasing its recommendations even before.
“We have included additional steps in this instruction that transcends what we have already defined in our codes,” Smith noted, confirming of OFCom to update its previous codes to include this change “in the future of the future near. “
“So this is a way to say on the platforms you can get before that applicable request by following the steps set out in this instruction,” she added.
OfCom recommended the use of hash technology to oppose intimate image abuse due to a significant increase in this risk, for Smith-especially regarding abuse of deep image generated by it.
“There was more intimate intimate abuse reported in 2023 than in all previous years combined,” it noted, adding that ofCom has also collected more evidence on the effectiveness of hash matching to handle this damage.
Draft Guidelines as a whole will now undergo consultations – with OFCom inviting feedback until May 23, 2025 – after which it will produce final instructions by the end of this year.
A full 18 months thereafter, ofcom will produce its first report that examines industry practice in this field.
“We are entering in 2027 before producing our first report on who is doing what (to protect women and girls online) – but there is nothing to stop the platforms that operate now,” she added.
Responding to criticism that OSA is taking a long time to implement, she said it is right for the regulator to consult on compliance measures. However, to the final extent by entering effect the next month, she noted that OFCom provides for a change in the conversation on this issue, too.
“(T) the hat will really begin to change the conversation with the platforms, in particular,” she predicted, adding that it will also be able to begin to demonstrate progress in the movement of the needle when it comes to lowering damage to Internet.
