(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Dublin: Dublin on Monday published binding rules aimed at protecting EU users of video-sharing platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok from harmful content.
The online Safety Code would bring "an end to the era of social media self-regulation", Ireland's Online Safety Commissioner, Niamh Hodnett said.
The finalised code -- formally adopted following consultation with the European Commission -- will apply to platforms with their EU headquarters in Ireland.
It requires that the platforms "protect people, especially children, from harmful video and associated content".
It will prohibit the uploading or sharing of child sexual abuse and content that incites violence and racism.
The platforms will have a responsibility to stamp out cyber-bullying and to ensure that there are ways for people to report content that breaks the rules.
The code also requires platforms to implement the use of age verification measures to prevent children from encountering pornography or violence.
Companies breaching the rules face fines of up to 20 million euros ($21.7 million) or 10 percent of a platform's annual turnover, whichever is greater.
The obligations will apply from next month, although platforms will have up to nine months to update IT systems.
"We will work to make sure that people know their rights when they go online and we will hold the platforms to account and take action when platforms don't live up to their obligations," Hodnett said.
Ireland's media regulator in January designated ten services as video-sharing platform services: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Udemy, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit.
The code will be applied to nine of the ten platforms, with Reddit having won the right to appeal against being designated.
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