With the assent of King Charles, the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act has become law, one that the British government says will “make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.”

The Online Safety Act, which began in April 2019 as the Online Harms White Paper when Theresa May served as Prime Minister (before Boris, Liz and now Rishi has the job) and was passed by Parliament in September, aims to tame the internet.

The law requires tech companies to prevent illegal content from being distributed on their platforms and to remove it when identified. It also seeks to prevent children from being exposed to harmful material, a goal that demands effective online age verification. And it allows for fines of up to £18 million ($21.82 million) or 10 percent of their global turnover, whichever is greater. It even includes the possibility of imprisoning executives whose companies fail to comply.

“This landmark law sends a clear message to criminals – whether it’s on our streets, behind closed doors or in far flung corners of the internet, there will be no hiding place for their vile crimes,” said Home Secretary Suella Braverman in a statement.

Concern remains that one particular passage, section 122 [PDF], allows Ofcom to demand that online service providers scan online communications, which would effectively disallow encryption.