Michelle Donelan, the UK Government's Culture Secretary has denied "watering down" the Online Safety Bill in the face of a Tory backbench rebellion.
The minister said dropping measures to ban “legal but harmful” web content was about taking a more “common sense” approach.
READ MORE: Online Safety Bill to remove ‘legal but harmful’ content measures
The change will win over free speech proponents in the party, including Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who claimed the law was about legislating for "hurt feelings.”
However, it has been criticised by Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly died by suicide after viewing self-harm content online.
He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the changes were “very hard to understand”.
“What we need is the assurance from the Secretary of State that this watering down of the Bill by removing the legal but harmful content is at least boosted in other measures to make it safe for not just young people but for all of us to be online.
“I don’t see how you can see the removal of a whole clause as anything other than a watering down.”
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Speaking on the programme later, Ms Donelan said the Government was introducing “legal but harmful for children” restrictions through other provisions in the Bill.
She said protections for children have been strengthened and it would be a “gross misrepresentation” to argue otherwise.
“Nothing is getting watered down or taken out when it comes to children,” she told the programme.
“The legal but harmful aspect was pertaining to adults. Content that is harmful or could hurt children that is not illegal, so is legal, will still be removed under this version of the Bill.
“So the content that Molly Russell saw will not be allowed as a result of this Bill.”
READ MORE: More than 1.6 million social media accounts are owned by underage children
The legislation aims to tackle the “absurd situation” surrounding the enforcement of age limits, Ms Donelan said, with social media firms that fail to bar under-age children from their platforms facing massive fines.
Other measures in the legislation means that Ofcom can fine social media giants up to 10% of annual turnover if they fail to fulfil policies to tackle racist, homophobic or other content harmful to children.
For adults, there will be a greater requirement for firms to provide tools to hide certain content they do not wish to see.
The amended Bill would require platforms to remove illegal content and take down any material that is in breach of its own terms of service.
The Government calls the approach a “triple shield” of online protection which also allows for freedom of speech.
Ms Donelan said told Sky News there were "unintended consequences" of the legal but harmful measures.
"It was really the anchor that was preventing this Bill from getting off the ground.
“It was a creation of a quasi-legal category between illegal and legal. That’s not what a government should be doing. It’s confusing. It would create a different kind of set of rules online to offline in the legal sphere.”
She said the Bill, which has been “a long time coming”, would become law “during this parliamentary session” and would would serve as a “blueprint” for boosting internet safety for countries around the world.
The changes set Ms Donelan on a collision course with Ms Dorries, who recently told the House magazine: “Michelle has been in the job five minutes and does not understand enough about it.
“The women in my party will, for want of a better word, kick off about this.”
Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said it was a “major weakening” of the Bill, adding: “Replacing the prevention of harm with an emphasis on free speech undermines the very purpose of this Bill, and will embolden abusers, Covid deniers, hoaxers, who will feel encouraged to thrive online.”
The latest changes come after other updates to the Bill, including criminalising the encouragement of self-harm, “downblousing” and the sharing of pornographic deepfakes.
The Government also confirmed further amendments will be tabled shortly aimed at boosting protections for women and girls online.
Much of the legislation is reserved, though provisions concerning child sexual exploitation and abuse, and another on education and childcare are devolved.
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