Britain is ‘at war’ with tech giants and proposed online safety bill is desperately needed

Britain is ‘at war’ with Big Tech and Parliament must act accordingly to pass the online safety law, Lord Stevenson has insisted.

The Labor colleague called on colleagues to make the most of a “very strange situation” of near-total cross-party support for the legislation.

Paying homage to teen Molly Russell and other victims of online harm, he encouraged them to keep “dissent” to a minimum and work together to ensure it was delivered on time.

Speaking in the House of Lords at the second reading of the bill on Wednesday, he said: ‘That’s a big question; I don’t think it was done, except in wartime. But we are at war – at war with these people who are trying to control our lives, and we should try to come together and defeat them.”

Peers also took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of following up online safety law ‘quickly’ with legislation to tackle competition in digital markets and protect consumers.

In tribute to teen Molly Russell, pictured, who took her life after viewing online content about suicide and self-harm, Lord Stevenson encouraged colleagues to keep “dissent” to a minimum and work together to ensure that it was delivered on time

Lord Black of Brentwood, deputy chairman of the Telegraph Media Group, said the two were going ‘hand in hand’ and would level the playing field between platforms and UK news publishers.

Balmacara’s Lord Stevenson said the chamber was in the “unusual” position where there was “no political division” over the ultimate aim of the bill.

Platforms had “failed” to self-regulate and continued to use business models that relied on “user engagement at all costs, no matter what holds their attention.”

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will protect Britain from online fraud while enabling a new regulator to rein in tech giants.

Lord Black said British news publishers had been operating for years in a “deeply dysfunctional” digital market and were not being paid fairly for their content.

He urged the government to “ensure rapid implementation” of the new regulator, the Digital Markets Unit, as an essential step in protecting the future of journalism.

He said: “It will be a leading digital regulator alongside this world first in online safety, paving the way for a profound change in the way platforms operate and ensuring the sustainability of journalism.”