UK

Online safety regulator Ofcom has been accused of having a “muddled and confused” response to regulating the dangers of AI chatbots which could pose a “clear risk” to the public.Andy Burrows, chief executive of online safety and suicide prevention charity, the Molly Rose Foundation, said too many AI chatbots were being rushed out by tech firms in a battle for market share in the new, but rapidly growing space of generative AI (Gen AI).Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that it had found Meta’s AI chatbots and virtual personas will take part in romantic and even sexual role-plays with users, including children.The report said Meta had called the testing manipulative and unrepresentative of how most users would engage with chatbots, but made changes to its products after seeing the findings.Mr Burrows said this latest report should prompt greater action from Ofcom to more tightly regulate AI chatbots under the Online Safety Act, a subject he said the regulator has not been clear enough on.“Every week brings fresh evidence of the lack of basic safeguarding protections in AI generated chatbots that are being hurriedly rushed out by tech companies in an all too familiar battle for market share,” he said.“Despite this, Ofcom’s response to the risks remains muddled and confused.“The regulator has repeatedly declined to state whether chatbots can even trigger the illegal safety duties set out in the Act.”If there are loopholes in the Act, Ofcom should stop dodging the question and start providing clarity on how we need to plug them.“From child sex abuse to inciting acts of violence and even suicide, poorly regulated chatbots are a clear risk to the safety of individuals and the public.”Asked about the subject during an evidence session of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on Tuesday, Ofcom’s director for online safety strategy delivery, Mark Bunting, acknowledged that the “legal position” was “not entirely clear” and “complex”.“The first thing to say is that Gen AI content that meets the definitions of illegal content, or content that is harmful to children is treated in the Act exactly the same way as any other type of content,” he told MPs.“The Act is deliberately drawn in a way that’s technology neutral.“There are areas of the technology where we think the legal position is not entirely clear or it’s complex.“So, for example, chatbots and the character services that we’ve seen linked with harm in the last few months, we think they are caught by the Act in some circumstances, but not necessarily all circumstances.“The mere fact of chatting with a chatbot is probably not a form of interaction which is captured by the Act, so there will be things there that we’ll want to continue to monitor.“We’ll want to talk to industry about those things where we think that there’s more that could be done – we’d be very happy to work with Government and parliament to try to build on the legislation that’s already in place.”Online safety groups have raised a number of concerns around AI chatbots, including that they can easily and quickly spread misinformation because of flawed training data or through AI hallucinations, as well as through AI-image generation tools being used to create child sexual abuse material.Earlier this month, the safety organisation the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) reported finding record levels of web pages hosting child sexual abuse material in 2024, and warned that AI-generated content were a key factor in that rise. More

French police will intervene to stop migrants getting on to small boats when they’re in the water after the UK “persuaded France to change its rules”, the home secretary has said. Small boat smugglers have been picking up migrants from the sea rather than French beaches in the latest attempt to evade police.Yvette Cooper said on Tuesday that smugglers are using the dinghies as “taxies”, launching much further up the French coast and then travelling down to beaches closer to the UK to pick up migrants. Migrants are then wading or swimming out to clamber aboard the small boats in the water, rather than getting on the dinghy from the beach. These tactics have been particularly effective at evading the French police, as the authorities currently don’t intervene once migrants are in the water, Ms Cooper explained. The home secretary told the BBC Today programme that the UK has recently “persuaded France to change its rules”. The French have agreed to intervene once migrants are in the water to stop the crossings, but the plan has yet to be put into action, Ms Cooper added. Yvette Cooper said that smugglers were using dinghies like taxis to evade French police More

Britain’s first transgender judge is taking the UK to the European Court of Human Rights over the ruling that trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act.The long-awaited judgement from the Supreme Court was hailed by campaigners but led to warnings it would “exclude trans people wholesale from participating in UK society”. Victoria McCloud, who stood down last year, is bringing action against the UK arguing a breach of her rights under article six of the European Convention on Human Rights. She claims the court refused to hear her views on how the ruling would affect her and other trans people.Victoria McCloud is taking the UK to the European Court of Human Rights More

Since its introduction in 2018, the UK’s sugar tax, officially known as the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, has sparked fierce debate over whether it actually helps reduce obesity or just adds pressure to household budgets. Originally applied to fizzy drinks with high sugar content, the levy prompted many manufacturers to reformulate products, leading to a 46 per cent reduction in sugar levels across the soft drinks sector.Now, the government is consulting on expanding the tax to include milk-based drinks like milkshakes and pre-packaged lattes, as well as non-dairy alternatives such as oat and rice drinks. Officials argue that the health risks posed by high sugar consumption outweigh earlier concerns about calcium intake, particularly for children. Supporters say the tax is a practical tool to improve public health and incentivise companies to cut sugar even further. Critics, however, warn it’s a regressive move that hits lower-income families the hardest and does little to tackle the root causes of obesity.Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insists the government is focused on “sensible measures” to protect children’s health, while others, including opposition figures and some industry leaders, argue it’s another example of overreach that interferes with personal choice.The Treasury says the levy has raised £1.9 billion to date, but as consultations continue, the big question remains: has the sugar tax really worked?What do you think? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts in the comments below. More

The Online Safety Act is “not up for negotiation” and will not be part of any trade deal discussions with the United States, MPs have heard.There have been reports that, in the wake of lobbying from US-based tech giants, President Donald Trump would push the UK to water down online safety laws in exchange for a trade deal or relief from tariffs.But when asked directly by MPs on the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee if the Act could be part of trade negotiations, parliamentary under-secretary for online safety Baroness Jones of Whitchurch said: “The Prime Minister has made it absolutely clear that the Online Safety Act is not up for negotiation.“It’s not part of the trade deal discussions. We’ve made that clear, and the fact is that the Online Safety Act is a piece of legislation – it can’t just be negotiated away.“It’s well through the process of being implemented, so it can’t be changed, and we’re happy to reassure everybody that we are sticking with the Online Safety Act.”The online safety rules are currently being steadily rolled out and, once fully in place, will require platforms hosting user-generated content, such as social media sites, to protect users, in particular children, from illegal and harmful content, as well as put measures in place to ensure users do not encounter harm.Those found in breach of the rules could face fines of up to £18 million, or up to 10% of global turnover – whichever is greater – and, in the most serious cases, sites could be blocked from the UK.Giving evidence earlier in the session, Mark Bunting, from Ofcom, said that, had the Online Safety Act been in force during last summer’s riots, which were sparked by misinformation spreading on social media in the wake of the Southport stabbings, platforms would have faced action from the communications regulator.During an appearance before the committee in February, tech firms including Meta, TikTok and X had suggested very little would have been different had the online safety rules been in force, but Mr Bunting did not agree.“I think we were very clear that we thought there were a number of questions that the tech firms would have had to answer had the duties been in force when those events took place,” he told MPs.“Now, I don’t want to go back and legislate events that happened before the duties were in force, but I think I can say that we don’t think the companies are sufficiently, consistently or effectively responding to events of this kind, and, as the committee will probably be aware, we’re working now on proposals for further measures in our codes of practice for companies to implement crisis response protocols, specifically in response to the events of last summer.“It will expect companies to be doing a lot more and to be able to be much more accountable for their response than they have been in the past.” More

Doctors at the British Medical Association (BMA) have condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological sex, dubbing it “biologically nonsensical” and “scientifically illiterate”. The union branch representing resident doctors – made up of around 50,000 medics previously known as junior doctors – passed a motion on Saturday criticising the judgement, which ruled that trans women are not legally women under the Equalities Act. Politicians have said the judgement – which means that transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if “proportionate” – provides clarity, while gender critical campaigners have hailed it as a victory for biological women. However, the doctors argued that a straightforward binary divide between sex and gender “has no basis in science or medicine while being actively harmful to transgender and gender-diverse people”.Resident doctors voted to condemn the Supreme Court’s ruling More

Tony Blair has warned Western policies to tackle global climate change are “failing”, demanding a radical reset to win over hearts and minds on the issue.The major intervention by the former prime minister torpedoes current net zero policies and calls for the COP process to be torn down and replaced.It is a shot across the bows of the current Labour government and energy secretary Ed Miliband’s plans to push headlong towards renewables.Writing the foreword for his own think tank’s new paper, The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change, Sir Tony warned that there is a widening credibility gap with voters who are “being asked to make financial sacrifices and changes in lifestyle when they know that their impact on global emissions is minimal.” The intervention could not come at a more sensitive time for Sir Keir Starmer’s government which is facing local elections in 48 hours, a first serious electoral test since the general election.Sir Tony endorses the paper, authored by the Tony Blair Institute (TBI)’s director of climate and energy policy Lindy Fursman, which calls for the COP international series of conferences to be dismantled, while a “new coalition” must be built to tackle the climate crisis. Tony Blair (PA) More