LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it had tightened protections in its Online Safety Bill that will prevent children from viewing pornography in an update to long-delayed legislation that is being closely watched by the tech industry.
Britain, like the European Union and other countries, has been grappling over how to protect social media users, and in particular children, from harmful content without damaging free speech.
"To prevent any further tragedy and build a better future for our children, we are acting robustly and with urgency to make the Online Safety Bill the global standard for protecting our children."
The tech industry including firms like Apple (AAPL.O) have criticised sections of the Online Safety Bill, particularly provisions that could be used to make messaging services break end-to-end encryption in order scan for child abuse material.
Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Alison Williams;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Paul Scully, Sachin Ravikumar, Alison Williams
Organizations:
European Union, Apple, Thomson
Locations:
Britain