LONDON: Britain may usher in an Australian-style ban on social media for kids below 16 as early as this 12 months and shut a loophole that left some AI chatbots outdoors security guidelines, as a part of authorities efforts to reply extra rapidly to digital dangers.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government final month launched a session on a social media ban for kids below 16 and is now working to vary laws so it may usher in any adjustments inside months of the session concluding.
Spain, Greece and Slovenia have additionally mentioned they’re engaged on bans after Australia became the first country on the planet to dam entry to below 16s. Scrutiny has since intensified additional after Elon Musk’s flagship AI chatbot Grok was discovered to be generating non-consensual sexualised images.
GLOBAL PRESSURE GROWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Britain’s 2023 On-line Security Act is without doubt one of the world’s strictest security regimes, but it surely doesn’t cowl one-to-one interactions with AI chatbots until they share info with different customers, a loophole that Expertise Minister Liz Kendall mentioned would quickly be closed.
Britain can’t enable regulatory gaps to persist after the act took almost eight years to cross and are available into drive, she mentioned.
“I’m involved about these AI chatbots … as is the prime minister, concerning the impression that is having on youngsters and younger folks,” Kendall instructed Occasions Radio, saying some youngsters had been forming one-to-one relationships with AI methods that weren’t designed with baby security in thoughts.
She mentioned the federal government would set out its proposals earlier than June.
Chatting with British media on Monday (Feb 16), Kendall mentioned tech corporations can be liable for making certain their methods complied with British legislation.
The federal government would additionally seek the advice of on adjustments to usher in computerized data-preservation orders when a baby dies, permitting investigators to safe key on-line proof – a measure lengthy sought by bereaved households. The session would additionally contemplate powers to curb “stranger pairing” on gaming consoles and to dam the sending or receiving of nude photos.
