Ministers plan to slap an online duty of care on social media giants but they’ll escape prosecution

TECH giants who fail to protect kids online will escape criminal prosecution as ministers prepare to water down their internet crackdown.

The government will next week unveil plans to slap an online duty of care on social media bosses.

Silicon Valley giants will face stinging fines of up to 4 per cent of their revenue if they turn a blind eye to law breaking on their sites.

But ministers are expected to say proposals to prosecute named bosses of tech giants will not be immediately enacted.

Instead, the threat is expected to be kept on the statute book and only triggered in future if firms woefully fail to improve internet safety.

The threat will be held like a ‘Sword of Damocles’ over the heads of tech bosses – putting firms like Facebook on their last warning.

Government insiders believe this will finally give “real teeth” to their internet crackdown.

One told The Sun that tech bosses will escape the dock if they prove they are ramping up efforts to protect users online.

A source said: “It is barking rather than biting.”

Ministers under Theresa May and Boris Johnson were considering making named social media bosses liable for criminal content on their sites.

The 2019 Tory Party manifesto promised to “legislate to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online”.

It vowed to “protect children from online abuse and harms” and “ensure there is no safe space for terrorists to hide online”.

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