Reducing Online Harms via Content Regulation: Balancing the Policy and User Interests to Improve the Cybersafety of Young People

在过去的十年中，人们越来越努力地缓和和规范在线服务（如常用的社交媒体平台）上的内容。各国政府和国际组织没有让个别公司和平台决定什么是保留什么是删除，而是起草并执行了相关法规，以减少在线有害内容的数量并保护用户。作为一个司法管辖区，英国已加入其他国家和集团，如澳大利亚和欧盟，要求平台减少有害的在线内容，并在2019年推出一套在线安全法规，最终在2023年秋季获得皇家同意的在线安全法案中达到高潮，该法案旨在改变平台如何确定和减少在线危害风险的内容。与此同时，人们越来越意识到，人们看到的内容和互动的内容会如何伤害年轻人和儿童。各种研究都强调了如何通过他们的在线互动和内容消费对年轻人造成特定类型的伤害。然而，最低限度的工作是关注平凡的日常互动，年轻人看到的内容类型以及他们在拿起手机或登录设备时所经历的伤害，这些都是日常生活中越来越多的一部分。鉴于新的法规正在制定，年轻人是一个目标用户群体，该项目调查了当代年轻人与有害和潜在有害内容的日常互动，以确定英国引入的新法规将如何有效地减少他们所受到的伤害。本研究假设可以在监管方面的政策利益和在线互动方面的用户利益之间取得更好的平衡，基于这一假设，本研究以联合王国的监管动态为中心，并使用以下研究问题作为调查指南：作为在线监管机制的数字护理责任在多大程度上会影响12-20岁年轻人与用户对用户服务互动的网络安全？该项目旨在通过直接与作为用户群体的年轻人接触，捕捉他们在网上受到伤害的日常经历。通过将这些经验与英国的法规进行比较，该项目旨在确定新的数字责任和义务平台在减少有害内容和限制儿童在线负面体验方面的有效性。该项目的预期影响是为指定的在线安全监管机构Ofcom提供额外的监管指导建议，解决主要立法中可能存在的差距，并加强对年轻人日常使用平台的当代体验的理解。

Over the past ten years, there has been a growing effort to moderate and regulate content present on online services such as commonly used social media platforms. Rather than leaving it up to individual companies and platforms to decide what stays and what goes, governments and international organisations have drafted and enforced regulations to reduce the amount of harmful content online and protect users. As a jurisdiction, the UK has joined other countries and conglomerates like Australia and the European Union in mandating that platforms reduce harmful online content introducing a suite of online safety regulations in 2019, culminating in the Online Safety Bill set for Royal Assent in Autumn 2023 set to change how platforms determine and reduce the content which poses a risk of harm online.At the same time, there has been increasing awareness of how content seen and interacted with can harm young people and children. Various studies have highlighted how specific types of harm can be caused to young people via their online interactions and consumption of content. However, minimal work is concerned with the mundane, everyday interactions, the types of content young people are seeing and the harms they are experiencing should they pick up their phones or log onto devices as an increasing part of everyday life.In light of new regulations being enacted with young people as a targeted user group, this project investigates the contemporary everyday interactions of young people with harmful and potentially harmful content to determine how effective new regulations being introduced in the UK will reduce the harm they come to. Based on the hypothesis that a better balance can be struck between the policy interests concerning regulation and the user interests concerning interactions online, this research centres on the regulatory developments in the United Kingdom and uses the following research question as a guide to inquiries:To what extent will the digital duties of care as regulatory mechanisms online impact the cybersafety of young people aged 12-20 interacting with user-to-user services?This project aims to capture their everyday experiences of online harm by engaging directly with young people as a user group. By comparing these experiences with the UK's regulations, the project aims to determine how effective the new digital duties and obligations platforms are in reducing harmful content and limiting children's negative experiences online. The anticipated impact of this project is to provide recommendations for additional regulatory guidance to the appointed online safety regulator Ofcom, addressing the gaps potentially present in the primary legislation and enhancing the understanding of the contemporary experiences of young people as they use platforms daily.