CEO and co-founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg poses next to Facebook head of global policy communications and former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg (L) prior to a meeting with French President at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on May 10, 2019.

Britain's media regulator Ofcom has been chosen by the government to crack down on social media companies over how they deal with harmful content.

The watchdog will be handed new powers by London, allowing it to impose a "duty of care" on technology giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter to ensure they take a proactive role to prevent the distribution of harmful material online.

In a white paper published last year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's administration identified content depicting child abuse, terrorism and self-harm as key areas it would look to tackle with the regulatory overhaul.

"As the internet continues to grow and transform our lives it is essential that we get the balance right between a thriving, open and vibrant virtual world, and one in which users are protected from harm," Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan and Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a joint ministerial statement Wednesday.

The U.K. held a consultation from April to July last year, the government said. It received over 2,400 responses from a range of organizations including the tech giants, small businesses and academics.

The government had previously suggested setting up an independent, industry-funded regulator to enforce the new rules. But it now says it's "minded to" select Ofcom, an existing regulator, instead.