Online harms bill: firms may face multibillion-pound fines for illegal content

UK government sets out strict guidelines to govern removal of material promoting child sexual abuse and terrorism

Social media companies will need to remove and limit the spread of harmful content or face fines of billions of pounds, the UK government has announced, as it finally reveals the details of its proposed internet regulation.

The online harms bill, first proposed by Theresa May's government in April 2019, sets out strict new guidelines governing removal of illegal content such as child sexual abuse, terrorist material and media that promotes suicide, which sites must obey or face being blocked in the UK.