Ofcom is picking up the bill, and that’s not fair

With the regulator being handed a mission impossible by government, Barry finds himself feeling sympathy for a body he so regularly bashes

@bazzacollins Frequent readers of this column will know I’m no great fan of our telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom. In much the same way I’m no great fan of conjunctivitis or being dangled by my ankles from the back of a moving lorry, in fact. So when I find myself feeling sorry for Ofcom, you know it’s being wronged. The regulator is being made the fall guy for everything that’s unworkable in the Online Safety Bill, which is continuing its years-long plod through parliament as I type. “Ofcom” is the go-to answer when ministers are quizzed about how something incredibly difficult will be resolved; it’s the arbiter of anything faintly controversial in the bill; it’s tasked with finding technical solutions that haven’t even been invented yet. And when it all goes horribly…

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