Young people will now be safer online, thanks to new legislation from the UK Conservative Government.
Supported by Brecon and Radnorshire MP Fay Jones, the Online Safety Bill passed through parliament last week. It will set out new laws safeguarding freedom of expression whilst also ensuring the safety of children and young people online. The Bill will force social media platforms to remove all illegal content, stopping children and adults from seeing it. It creates a range of new offences, including making content that promotes self-harm illegal for the first time.
Social media providers must now fulfil their duty to keep users safe by removing illegal content and address any online abuse quickly and effectively. Failure to remove illegal content and abuse will lead to harsh fines for social media giants.
The bill also includes the new offence of cyber-flashing – something which Ms Jones has been campaigning on since her election. Cyber flashing (the act of sending unsolicited indecent photos online) is a crime that predominantly affects young women. It is often used as a gateway crime to much more serious sexual offences.
Commenting on the Bill, Fay Jones MP said: “Young women and girls should be protected on the streets, and this should be no different for life online. After months of campaigning, I am very glad to see Cyber-flashing in the Online Safety Bill. It is a horrible act that should not be tolerated.
More broadly, the Online Safety Bill is a ground-breaking piece of legislation that will safeguard children and young people especially, from abuse and encouragements of self-harm online. Already we have lost far too many young people to some of the darker elements of the internet.
While protecting the freedom of expression, we must ensure safety online and offline. It is great news that social media platforms will now have a legal duty to ensure that the internet is not a harmful space.”