UK ditches ban on 'legal but harmful' online content in favour of free speech


A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen in front of displayed Twitter logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will not force tech giants to remove content that is "legal but harmful" from their platforms after campaigners and lawmakers raised concerns that the move could curtail free speech, the government said on Monday.

Online safety laws would instead focus on the protection of children and on ensuring companies removed content that was illegal or prohibited in their terms of service, it said, adding that it would not specify what legal content should be censored.

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