TechScape: what to expect from the online safety bill

Up for discussion in the Guardian tech newsletter: Facebook and Google will be targets for Ofcom if the government passes the proposed legislation

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You wouldn't blame Ofcom for feeling daunted. The world, or at least the bit of the planet that wants to clean up the internet, is watching the online safety bill and the UK communications regulator has to enforce it. Hearings into the draft bill by a joint committee came to an end last week and if you take a step back and look at what has come out of those sessions since September, it is clear that Ofcom has got a job on its hands.

Quick primer: the bill covers tech firms that allow users to post their own content or to interact with one another. So that means big fish such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat have to obey it but also commercial pornography sites like OnlyFans. Search engines such as Google are also included.