European governments are acting on the dangers of big tech. An alarming dispatch from the metaverse shows why they must hurry up
For anyone harbouring doubts about the scale of the challenge involved in trying to make the internet safer, above all for children, a new Channel 4 Dispatches programme on the metaverse is likely to dispel them. The presenter, Yinka Bokinni, introduces herself as a “tech lover” before donning an Oculus headset and heading off into the network of 3D virtual worlds that Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg describes as the internet’s “next frontier”. What she finds there leaves her visibly shaken. Sexual harassment, rape threats and racist epithets are ubiquitous, and childhood offers little protection (one of the avatars she adopts is 13). Even paedophilia is freely admitted to.
Back in the real world, the UK government’s online safety bill is moving closer to becoming law. It had its second reading in the House of Commons this month and has a broad base of support, although Labour is likely to try to amend provisions that grant powers to the secretary of state that should stay with the regulator, Ofcom. Meanwhile in Brussels, an agreement bringing closer the enactment of a Digital Services Act was reached at the weekend. It will ban some kinds of targeted advertising, pave the way for fines of up to 6% of global turnover and charge companies fees to pay for compliance.
