JERSEY must not rush into passing new online safety regulation “which doesn’t do the job we want it do”, the Information Commissioner has warned – in the wake of major criticism surrounding newly-implemented legislation in the UK.
Paul Vane made the comments shortly after Assistant Economic Development Minister Moz Scott said the government had been “proceeding on the basis of providing our own legislation in respect of online harms”.
Jersey chose not to hook in to the UK’s Online Safety Act, which seeks to place new responsibilities on social media companies and search services to prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content.
The Act has faced a barrage of criticism over compliance burdens, freedom of expression concerns and enforcement challenges.
Deputy Scott has said that, under the Jersey legislation being developed, Islanders would have the legal right to contact social media platforms to request that content be taken down where it was in breach of the law.
And Children’s Commissioner Carmel Corrigan recently suggested that Jersey may eventually need “an online regulator” or a “regulation agreement with the UK”.
Mr Vane said: “There’s a danger that we rush into finding some form of regulation which doesn’t do the job that we want it to do.”
“You look at the UK Online Safety Act, for example – there is a mound of commentators criticising that as a rush job, not forward looking, too backward thinking.”
Mr Vane noted the increasing speed at which technology is advancing, pointing out that it “poses a challenge” from a regulatory perspective.
He also said that, instead of focusing on the UK, the Island could look elsewhere – such as Australia or Europe – for examples of online regulation and “pick the best advice”.
“We need something that is Jersey-centric and fit for purpose,” he continued.
Mr Vane stressed the importance of examining the “potential unintended consequences of any kind of regulation”.
“We can avoid that by collaborating in the first instance,” he explained, citing the Children’s Commissioner and the Education Department among the Island’s relevant stakeholders,” he added.
“There are multiple challenges ahead in the online world and new technologies that we have not even spoken about yet.
“We live on a nine-by-five island – if we can’t get the relevant stakeholders around the table to properly discuss and analyse this, then we have a bigger problem.”
