© Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty ImagesThe draft bill is due to be checked line-by-line by legislators before being brought back to parliament later this year
The groups are concerned the proposed Online Safety Bill would hand to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden disproportionate powers in the name of protecting users from "harmful" content.
The Bill allow him to "modify" a code of practice — the blueprint created by the regulator Ofcom for how tech companies should protect users — to ensure it "reflects government policy."
Critics say such powers, which were set out in a draft of the proposed law published in May and due for imminent scrutiny by MPs and peers, could undermine the regulator's independence and potentially politicize the regulation of the internet.
"The notion that a political appointee will have the unilateral power to alter the legal boundaries of free speech based on the political whims of the moment frankly makes the blood run cold," said Heather Burns, policy manager at the Open Rights Group.
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