Following the resignation of Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader last week, a piece of UK legislation to regulate internet content through a child safety focused frame is on hold until the fall.
The Online Safety Bill is expected to be dropped from House of Commons business next week.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) denied the legislation was being dropped altogether but the fate of the bill now rests with the new prime minister.
Critics of the bill continue to warn it vastly overreaches on content regulation while saddling the UK's digital sector with huge compliance costs.
Child safety groups and the Labour Party have decried the latest delay in legislation that has been years in the making, while digital rights groups have seized the moment to urge a rethink.
The bill is fundamentally broken and the next prime minister needs a total rethink according to the CEO of the index on censorship.
It would make the UK the first democracy in the world to break messaging apps, and it would make people who have experienced abuse online less safe because platforms would have to remove evidence.
Jim Killock, the CEO of the Open Rights Group, called the bill a mess and argued that it threatens to implement pervasive monitoring and limit legal speech.
The children's charity said that the legislation should be a cornerstone of any government's duty to keep vulnerable people safe.
The Samaritans urged the government to make the Online Safety Bill law as soon as possible in order to save lives.
The Online Safety Bill was revived after the Digital Economy Act was dropped in 2019.
Critics argue that the bill is an incoherent mess because of the constant flow of amendments and additions.
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If an election is called sooner than expected, there could be a new delay to the legislation.
In her launch speech, Kemi said the government should not be legislating for hurt feelings, and in follow up comments on the internet, she suggested support for dropping the bill completely.
As a result of Johnson's need to plug gaps in government posts following the droves of resignations that preceded his own, Damian Collins, a new-in-post DCMS minister for tech and the digital economy, pointedly rebutted. The online safety bill was delivered by him.
Collins pressed her to stand up her claims that the bill requires the removal of legal speech. He argued that the bill would allow the government to set safety standards online based on the laws of the country.
Tech industry watchers and IT law and policy experts were quick to offer up examples of how the bill could be improved.
And what are your thoughts on the new ‘harmful communications’ offence, and how platforms would be supposed to adjudge it? https://t.co/nLfu0DXVIp
— Graham Smith (@cyberleagle) July 13, 2022
Badenoch, a relative unknown who hails from the rightwing of the Conservative Party, is considered to have a slim chance at winning the leadership contest.
There are still a number of votes to be taken.
The final vote on who will be leader and prime minister will be held by the wider Conservative Party membership. The person will be in post by September.
Sunak and Mordaunt have not focused on attacking the online safety bill.
Collins has come out in favor of the bill. The trade minister has told him that if she becomes prime minister, she will continue with the bill.
.@PennyMordaunt has confirmed to me that as Prime Minister she would continue with our world leading Online Safety Bill – just one of the many reasons that I am supporting her to be the next leader of the Conservative Party #PM4PM #OnlineSafetyBill
— Damian Collins (@DamianCollins) July 14, 2022
When the Online Safety Bill was introduced to parliament, Sunak was in the cabinet and he and his colleagues worked together to pass it. He doesn't look like an obvious candidate to make getting rid of the legislation a priority if he wins.
The problem of the disproportionate amount of abuse directed at women and girls has been a claimed aim for the bill. The government added a new law against cyber flashing in March.
According to polls of Conservative Party members, she would easily beat the former chancellor if there was a leadership race.
The foreign secretary, who placed third with 50 votes in the last MPs ballot, has gained the endorsement of Dorries. When the bill was introduced, he was in the cabinet as well.
Reports of the demise of the online safety bill may be premature.
With how much cross-party support there is for safety legislation any prime minister who moved to scrapped the plan entirely would face no shortage of criticism from within parliament, as well as risk anger from voters if they are perceived to be failing on child safety.
The bloated kitchen sink bill is one of the casualties of the chaos that has sunk its third Prime Minister in six years.
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