MAJOR changes to the Island’s online safety legislation will not be lodged before next summer’s election and will focus on the removal of harmful content rather than prosecuting people who share it, a senior politician has said.
The proposals, if approved, would make it easier for people in Jersey to get illegal content or content which breaches the internet service’s own rules removed from social media, websites and search engines.
It is also being designed to establish clear guidelines to support the removal of images and videos that depict Islanders and cause distress.
Assistant Economic Development Minister Moz Scott, who holds political responsibility for telecommunications and has launched a public consultation on the proposals, said the proposed online safety laws would put responsibility on service providers to remove content swiftly.
Deputy Scott added that tackling those who share harmful content can be difficult as “we are often not aware who actually posts certain things” as people can “hide behind identities”.
She said that some laws regarding the sharing of explicit or distressing are already in place and that the next step is ensuring potentially harmful content can be removed.
One of the aims of the proposed legislation is to clearly define online privacy rights and so give Islanders control over images of them which have caused them “harm or distress” or damaged their reputation and have been shared without their consent.
Deputy Scott said the proposed changes would not come be debated until after the election in June.
The proposals aim to create a legal route to remove these images from the public domain.
According to the report accompanying the consultation, Islanders “would not be able to post any images of other people without their consent and vice versa” under the law.
The report also states that “unlike criminal law, which punishes identified offenders, this proposed new law focuses on providing rights of recourse to victims”.
Islanders can respond to the consultation, which is running until 6 March and can be found at gov.je/consultations, online, by emailing economy@gov.je or by post to: FAO Digital Economy Team, Department for the Economy, Government of Jersey, Union Street, St Helier, JE2 3DN.
