The Consumer, Mental Health and Disability and Privacy Law sub-committees and the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society of Scotland responded to the UK Government’s Online Harms White Paper which sets out the government’s plans for “a world-leading package of measures to keep UK users safe online”.

The Law Society welcomed the publication of the white paper and the government’s overarching objective to make the UK the safest place to go online and start and grow a digital business. It believes that action is required to address online harms and recognise that this is a complex task, given the need to balance the interests of various groups, protect freedom of expression and ensure that citizens, particularly children or other vulnerable users, can use the internet safe.

The Law Society shares concerns around the increasing volume of disinformation and misinformation and the difficulty of identifying real stories from fake news. Online harm is widespread and in the longer term, international cooperation in this area is likely to prove more efficient than any single country’s initiative.

For further information please visit the Law Societyof Scotland website.