- New polling shows overwhelming public and parental support for a new Act
- Ofcom’s codes lack ambition and won’t do enough to tackle harm
- Ian Russell: ‘timid regulation will cost lives’ so ministers must intervene
On the first anniversary of the Online Safety Act, the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF) calls for Ministers to urgently commit to a new Bill that strengthens regulation, with a warning that “timid regulation may cost young lives.”
It comes as the Foundation releases large-scale polling that shows overwhelming public and parental support for a new Online Safety Act: 84 per cent of parents, and 80 per cent of adults, back a new Act to strengthen the regime.
Nine in ten (89 per cent) of adults that support a new Act want it to be introduced in the first two years of this Parliament.
MRF is warning that Ofcom’s implementation of the Act has been risk averse and unambitious and has exposed structural weaknesses in the Act that should be urgently fixed.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has previously committed to “building on the Online Safety Act” and has said “keeping children safe online is the key priority of the Government”.
Our findings show strong support for changes to the legislative framework, including a new legal duty on Ofcom to set annual targets for harm reduction. MRF envisages Ofcom having to write a letter of explanation to ministers if it misses its targets, similar to the duty on the Bank of England if it misses its inflation targets.
Our polling shows that four in five parents (82 per cent) think politicians should be doing more to protect the online safety of young people, while three in four 77 per cent think the previous Government was too slow to introduce regulation.
Ian Russell, Chair of Molly Rose Foundation said: “Almost 7 years after Molly’s death, we urgently need ministers to finish the job, with a strengthened Online Safety Act that makes clear measurable harm reduction is the North Star of this regime.
“While I firmly believe regulation is the best way to protect children from preventable harm, the reality is that timid regulation will cost lives. Ofcom has so far failed to grasp the nettle and respond decisively to preventable online harm.”
Andy Burrows, CEO of Molly Rose Foundation, said: “By committing to strengthen the Online Safety Act, ministers can give confidence to parents and the country at large that credible, effective and decisive change is on the way.
“The Government should commit to a set of clear, effective changes that can build on the landmark Act and deliver the strong regulatory regime that our young people need and deserve.”
Our polling shows strong support for a new Act to introduce broader changes, including a levy on social media companies to fund civil society groups and independent researchers working on online harms.
Crucially, it also shows that the public believe tech firms should face a stringent set of measures than Ofcom currently proposes. For example, 81 per cent of adults think tech companies should make their products safe for young people, even if this results in substantially higher costs for them.
MRF warns that this means there is likely to be a significant disconnect between public expectations of the regime and what it is likely to deliver. It’s therefore unreasonable to expect that expectations will be met when the regime starts to take effect.
If you’re struggling just text MRF to 85258 so you can speak to a trained volunteer from Shout, the UK’s Crisis Text Line service
