UK Gives Social Media Giants 48-Hour Deadline to Remove Intimate Content

48-Hour Limit Against Digital Bullying The UK government has launched a comprehensive legal regulation to combat the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, which primarily targets women and girls. Under a new strategy announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, technology platforms will face strict time limits for content removal. According to the planned legislative changes, companies must remove intimate images shared without a person's consent within 48 hours of receiving a deletion request. Billion-Dollar Fines Looming Heavy sanctions are planned for platforms that fail to comply with the new regulations. The government announced that platforms violating the rules could face administrative fines of up to 10 percent of their annual global turnover. Additionally, platforms that fail to fulfill their obligations may face a total access ban on their services within the UK. Prime Minister Starmer described the move by stating, "The front line of the struggle is the internet." Automatic Cleanup with a Single Notification The regulation aims to minimize the trauma experienced by victims by removing bureaucratic hurdles. While the current system requires separate notifications for each platform, the new system plans to allow a single report to trigger the removal of an image from multiple platforms simultaneously and automatically prevent it from being re-uploaded. The UK's communications regulator, Ofcom, is expected to treat such content with the same level of seriousness as child abuse and terrorism.