Online Safety Bill: South West adults want tougher rules on social media firms
The NSPCC says companies should have a legal duty to work together to prevent grooming
The NSPCC says there has been overwhelming support across Wiltshire and the South West for measures to toughen up child abuse laws.
The charity is warning the Online Safety Bill needs significant strengthening to make it fit for purpose.
The bill was published on Thursday 15th March but there are still calls for a firmer focus on child safety.
But the NSPCC says over 80% of adults in our region think social media companies should have a legal duty to work with each other to prevent online grooming.
What did the survey find?
• Four in five (83%) of adults in the South West think social media companies should have a legal duty to work with each other to prevent online grooming happening across multiple platforms
• 85% want companies to have to understand how groomers and child abusers use their sites to abuse children or share child abuse material and take action to prevent it by law
• 83% would support the appointment of a senior manager, or safety controller, to be held liable for children’s safety on social media sites
• Two thirds (63%) of those with an opinion would support the named manager being prosecuted if they failed to protect children from serious harm
Sir Peter Wanless, Chief Executive of the NSPCC, said:
"Ministers must not forget the Online Safety Bill began as a child protection measure. But unless it is significantly strengthened this landmark legislation will fail to protect children from grooming taking place on an industrial scale".
"A succession of Parliamentary committees have drawn attention to child protection weaknesses within the draft Bill and public opinion is clear.
"There is now overwhelming support for Government to take steps to toughen up the legislation and focus on comprehensively preventing abuse.
"We want the Culture Secretary to act on this consensus and do everything possible to ensure social media can no longer be exploited by groomers to target our children for abuse with devastating ease".
Meanwhile, more than 40,000 people have signed an open letter to Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries demanding she toughen up the legislation to protect children from groomers.
To focus minds at the very top of tech firms, the NSPCC want a senior manager to be held liable for children’s safety on every platform, with fines, censure, and criminal sanctions the back stop for negligence.
They are also calling for the bill to place duties on platforms to tackle grooming pathways which see offenders exploit social media sites to commit abuse across multiple platforms.
Experts said ministers must close a gap in the legislation that will enable child abusers to continue legally using social media as a shop window to advertise their sexual interest in children.
It allows them to form networks with other offenders and post so-called digital breadcrumbs linking to child abuse content on third party sites.
The Culture Secretary says tougher rules around online content will make the UK the "safest place in the world" to be on the internet.
The draft laws include a requirement for sites to remove illegal or harmful material or face being blocked or fined.
The Online Safety Bill's introduction in the Commons is the first step in its passage through Parliament to become law.
You can read the bill in full on the government's website.