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Government says online misinformation is fuelling riots

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British Online Safety Bill set to come into effect next

year

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Some legislators, activists urge quicker implementation

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Regulator says consultation must take place first

(Adds Ofcom open letter to Aug 7 story in paragraphs 8-9)

By Martin Coulter

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Elon Musk has been accused of

exacerbating tensions after a week of far-right rioting in

Britain, sparking calls for the government to speed up the

rollout of laws policing harmful online content.

Misinformation and calls to violence have spread on social

media over the past week after far-right and anti-Muslim groups

seized on the fatal stabbing of three young girls in the English

town of Southport.

As rioters clashed with police in some towns and cities,

Musk joined the debate on his X platform, posting that civil war

was "inevitable" in Britain. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's

spokesperson said there was "no justification" for such

comments.

Separately, Starmer warned social media companies that

violent disorder whipped up online was a crime "on your

premises", while adding there was a "balance to be struck" in

handling the firms.

The official responses reflect the difficult situation the

government is in.

An Online Safety Bill was passed into law in October but has

yet to be implemented. It gives media regulator Ofcom the power

to fine social media companies up to 10% of global turnover if

they are found in breach of the law, for example by failing to

police content inciting violence or terrorism.

But Ofcom is still drawing up guidelines outlining how it

will implement the law, with enforcement not expected until

early next year. In the wake of recent violence, some are

calling for the rules to be rolled out sooner.

On Wednesday, Ofcom published an open letter underlining

social media companies' responsibility to protect users from

harmful content, even without the Online Safety Act in force.

Director Gill Whitehead wrote: "In a few months, new

safety duties under the Online Safety Act will be in place, but

you can act now - there is no need to wait to make your sites

and apps safer for users."

Adam Leon Smith, a fellow at industry body BCS, the

Chartered Institute for IT, wants Ofcom to start enforcing the

Online Safety Act as soon as possible, he told Reuters.

"There must be a tipping point where a foreign billionaire

platform owner has to take some responsibility for running a

toxic bot network that has become one of the main sources of

fake news and misinformation in the UK," he said.

Laws properly governing online safety are long overdue, said

Kirsty Blackman, an MP for the Scottish National Party.

"I would back moves for the timetable to be accelerated,"

she said. "Requirements should be brought in as soon as

possible, particularly for the biggest and highest-risk

platforms."

An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We're moving quickly to

implement the Online Safety Act so we can enforce it as soon as

possible. To do this, we are required to consult on codes of

practice and guidance, after which the new safety duties on

platforms will become enforceable."

Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

ENFORCEMENT

While those inciting violence online can be prosecuted

individually, the government has no way to force social media

companies to police their platforms until the Online Safety Bill

comes into effect.

On Tuesday, Britain's technology minister Peter Kyle said he

had met with TikTok, Meta, Google and X to emphasize their

responsibility to prevent the spread of harmful content online.

The companies did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

Despite this, a number of posts on X actively encouraging

violence and racism - seen by Reuters - remain live and have

been viewed tens of thousands of times.

At the time of writing, Musk's X posts on the issue have

been read by tens of millions of users, according to the site's

own metrics. One post, in which he suggested Muslim communities

were receiving undue police protection, had been viewed 54

million times.

While such comments themselves might not break the rules

around illegal content, allowing direct calls for violence may.

"We would encourage Ofcom to speed up its work on the

guidelines, so that X and other social media platforms face

financial penalties if they do not remove harmful content," said

Iman Atta, director of advocacy group Tell MAMA, which monitors

anti-Muslim activity in Britain.

"There is a need to force platforms to take more drastic

action against extremism and hate speech," she said.