The government will introduce what it describes as a set of “world-first” online safety laws in parliament today.

The long-awaited Online Safety Bill includes tougher and quicker criminal sanctions for tech bosses, as well as new criminal offences for falsifying and destroying data.

The new legislation aims to protect children from harmful content and limit people’s exposure to illegal content.

The government said the Bill will force social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, search engines, and other online platforms that allow people to post their own content to protect children, tackle illegal activity, and uphold their stated terms and conditions.

Under the new rules, regulator Ofcom will have the power to fine companies failing to comply up to ten per cent of their annual global turnover, force them to improve their practices, and block non-compliant sites.

Executives who fail to cooperate with Ofcom information requests could also face prosecution or jail time within two months of the legislation becoming law, instead of two years as it was previously drafter.

“The internet has transformed our lives for the better,” said digital secretary Nadine Dorries. “It’s connected us and empowered us.

“But on the other side, tech firms haven’t been held to account when harm, abuse and criminal behaviour have run riot on their platforms. Instead they have been left to mark their own homework.”

A number of new offences have also been included in the law to make companies’ senior managers criminally liable for destroying evidence, failing to attend or providing false information in interviews with Ofcom, and for obstructing the regulator when it enters company offices.

Earlier this week the government announced that cyberflashing would become a criminal offence under the law, while a week before it revealed that social media scams would also be covered by the legislation.

“We don’t give it a second’s thought when we buckle our seat belts to protect ourselves when driving," added Dorries. "Given all the risks online, it’s only sensible we ensure similar basic protections for the digital age.

"If we fail to act, we risk sacrificing the wellbeing and innocence of countless generations of children to the power of unchecked algorithms.”

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