Bosses of sites that run user-generated content could face up to two-years in prison for failing to protect children online.

According to reports, an amendment to the Online Safety Bill was green-lighted after nearly 50 Tory MPs took part in a backbench revolt against original plans for the legislation.

The new law, which is currently in report stage, will now force technology companies–including social media sites like Facebook and Instagram–to have in place “proportionate measures” to stop children from accessing harmful content, said a report by the BBC.

Under the upcoming law, previously managers working for these sites would have only faced jail time for not giving information to regulator Ofcom.

In November, the government backtracked on rules forcing BigTech companies to remove racist and misogynistic content.

The amendment means that social media platforms no longer need to remove racist, misogynistic, or antisemitic content, or posts that glorify eating disorders, as these do not meet the criminal threshold.

Instead, companies will offer adults tools to "help them avoid" this kind of harmful content, including human moderation, blocking content flagged by other users or sensitivity and warning screens.

While companies will still need to remove illegal online content, the new legislation will not define specific types of legal content that companies must address.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) said that the move “removes any influence future governments could have on what private companies do about legal speech on their sites, or any risk that companies are motivated to take down legitimate posts to avoid sanctions”.

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