- 26 bereaved parents and survivors call for bold action to tackle inherently preventable online harms
- Party leaders should prioritise stronger online safety regulation
- Independent research to identify risks and evidence-based solutions, funded by a ‘polluter pays’ windfall tax
Bereaved parents and survivors of child sexual abuse today make a major intervention in the General Election campaign, calling on the main party leaders to commit to bold action that can tackle inherently preventable online abuse and harmful content.
In an open letter to the UK’s main political parties, 26 bereaved parents and child abuse survivors call on whoever enters Downing Street next month to commit to a strengthened Online Safety Act as the most effective route to deliver meaningful improvements to young people’s safety and well-being.
Signatories including bereaved parents Ian Russell and Esther Ghey tell the party leaders there is an overwhelming imperative to do more to protect children and young people from online risks and to respond to the clear groundswell of public concern on the issue.
They warn that the business model of tech giants puts profit before children’s safety, with the costs of failing to address safety risks passed on to children, families, the NHS and our vital public services.
Signatories tell the party leaders that ‘the right answers to the complex challenges of online safety are a combination of regulation, prevention and the thoughtful application of safety-by-design.’
The group urges politicians to adopt evidence-based and thoughtful positions that can protect children’s safety and their positive uses of technology, and they warn that policy solutions not supported by evidence run the risk of unintended consequences.
Signatories call on the next Government to commit to a major new research programme that can build the evidence of online harms and inform policy and regulatory approaches to ensure safe, more age-appropriate online experiences for children.
Today’s intervention comes just weeks after the Bereaved Families for Online Safety came together to ask Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak to commit to strengthened online safety legislation.
At the time, parents told the party leaders that online safety must no longer be considered as an afterthought, and that further action was needed to prevent more parents having to bury their children before their time.
Last week, the Molly Rose Foundation – established following the death of 14-year old Molly Russell – called on the next Government to adopt a five-point plan to transform children’s online safety and well-being. The Foundation is calling for urgent and comprehensive action that builds on the existing Online Safety Act regime.
Today, the letter’s signatories endorse the call for significant further measures. Bereaved parents and survivors of child sexual abuse want the UK’s party leaders to impose a one-off harm reduction windfall tax, and increase the industry levy paid by the largest social media and search companies, to deliver a step-change in funding for independent research and advocacy.
Just days after it emerged Apple failed to fix a flaw in its parental controls, despite being aware that it meant children could access age-inappropriate content for over three years, the bereaved parents and abuse survivors call for a statutory enforceable Code for app stores and device operating systems.
The Statutory Code would require app stores and operating systems to provide high-quality parental controls and age assurance checks.
The group of bereaved parents and young adults finish their letter by setting out that ‘children should not be penalised for the failures of Big Tech to protect them, nor the failure of successive Governments around the world to act sooner.’
The letter states that ‘we owe children and young people nothing less than to protect them from the risks of the online world, but also to empower and equip them to safely enjoy its benefits.’
Full text of the letter:
Dear Party Leaders,
In recent months, there has been a renewed and palpable groundswell for further action to protect children from inherently preventable online harms and promote their well-being. As a group of bereaved parents and people with lived experience of online abuse, we are urging you to respond to this concern with decisive, effective and evidence-based policies, and to commit to strengthened regulation as the primary means to transform children’s safety and well-being.
There is an overwhelming imperative to do more to protect children and young people from online risks, and it is surely right that the next Government pays attention to the genuine and deeply felt public concern on this issue. We cannot continue to allow technology companies to operate a business model that allows them to put profit before safety, and that externalises the costs of harm to children, families, the NHS and our vital public services.
The case for determined action to protect children from avoidable harm is clear – and should be a central part of how the next Government approaches its digital strategy. After all, technology-facilitated child sexual abuse and grooming are at record levels; toxic algorithms continue to bombard vulnerable teens with the same type of suicide and self-harm content that contributed to the death of Molly Russell; and new technologies such as generative AI are being rushed out by search and social media sites focused ruthlessly on battle for market share, typically with scant regard for user safety.
We continue to believe the most effective way to address the risks posed by the online world, while also enabling young people to harness the positive benefits of technology, is through Duty of Care regulation. Until we change the commercial, legal and regulatory incentives on social media companies, and by targeting the commercial and design choices that can prey on and exacerbate the insecurities of young people, an entire generation will continue to be put at risk. It is only through effective, strengthened regulation that tech companies will start to design products based on children’s safety and well-being, not simply what’s best for their bottom line.
In this election, we therefore call on all political parties to re-commit to the importance of online safety regulation and assert that meeting strong and robust harm reduction requirements should be a prerequisite for companies that wish to operate in the UK. Allowing tech powerhouses to knowingly put our children at risk is an unacceptable price to pay.
At the same time, it is vital that political parties employ a considered, evidence-based approach to online safety. The evidence tells us that the right answers to the complex challenges of online safety are a combination of regulation, prevention and the thoughtful application of safety-by-design.
We therefore call on the next Government to take steps to build the evidence base around online safety and more age-appropriate uses of technology, including smartphones but also other devices. If we are to better understand how we can ensure that children and young people are able to use online devices in an age-appropriate way, and in turn develop policy and regulatory responses that are in the best interests of the child, further independent evidence about the risks and benefits of using online devices is essential. Such research should fully take account of the risks and opportunities across developmental stages, as well as the heterogeneity and diversity of children’s backgrounds and their diverse needs.
We collectively feel that further research is important to ensure that future policy and regulatory approaches are actively grounded in evidence, to ensure we can protect children’s safety while preserving their positive uses of technology, and to be confident that we can avoid policy solutions that may result in unintended consequences, whether for certain groups of children or young people as a whole.
A major expansion of online safety research could effectively be funded through the application of the ‘polluter pays’ principle, including the imposition of a one-off harm reduction windfall tax and the extension of the industry levy.
Finally, political parties should also take further practical steps to respond to the growing demand among parents for additional ways to protect their children. We strongly encourage the next Government to extend online safety regulation to app stores and operating systems. Just days after we learnt Apple had not fixed known weaknesses in its parental controls for three years, parties should commit to a statutory, enforceable Code that provides for high-quality parental controls and age assurance on all devices and operating systems, including smartphones.
Children should not be penalised for the failures of Big Tech to protect them, nor for the failure of successive Governments around the world to act sooner. The next Government must therefore seize the initiative and demonstrate it will act on the challenges posed by social media decisively, responsibly and in an evidence-based way. We owe our children nothing less than to protect them from the risks of the online world, but also empower and equip them to safely enjoy its benefits.
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