UK unveils plans to hold social media bosses liable for harmful content

The British government said on Monday it will explore making social media executives personally liable for harmful content published on their platforms, in a raft of new online safety proposals.

The plans unveiled in a policy paper, which also include creating an independent regulator, aim to tackle all kinds of harmful content from encouraging violence and suicide to spreading disinformation and cyber bullying.

The issue has gained added urgency with Facebook's failure to immediately halt livestreams of a March 15 attack by a self-avowed white supremacist on two mosques in New Zealand that killed 50 people.

Prime Minister Theresa May warned tech companies they had "not done enough" to protect users and that her government intended to put "a legal duty of care" on the firms "to keep people safe".

"For too long these companies have not done enough to protect users, especially children and young people, from harmful content," she said in a statement. "That is not good enough, and it is time to do things differently.

"Online companies must start taking responsibility for their platforms, and help restore public trust in this technology."