Online Safety Act – Keeping our children safe

You might have been surprised by an age check when you logged on to your favourite social media page this month. That’s because the government has implemented tough new rules as part of the Online Safety Act – and they’re already changing the way some platforms operate.

If you’re a parent or a person with responsibilities for children and young people, you will share my determination that children have a right to a childhood that isn’t marred by seeing things that can harm them, online.

For some, the new safeguards may feel trivial or irritating and not worth changing your online experience. But online safety and age appropriate content is a real problem, and it’s far more common than you might think. Research by the Children’s Commissioner found that most children have seen pornography by the age of 13. From accidentally clicking on the wrong search result to a child in the playground pressuring a friend to watch something they shouldn’t, harmful content is out there and far too easy to stumble upon.

Some people have voiced concerns that these changes affect their freedoms but we cannot allow “freedom” to be used as a shield for tech companies to avoid their responsibilities. This is about protecting the most vulnerable. It’s about giving children the space to grow up without being exposed to things that they are not meant to see.

I’m glad the UK is leading the way on this. Now it’s time for every platform to step up, and for us to hold them to account if they don’t.

The introduction of the Online Safety Act puts the responsibility for protecting children squarely where it belongs: on the companies who run these platforms and who profit from them.

Ofcom, the regulator, will be monitoring compliance closely and has made it clear that if platforms don’t follow the rules, there will be consequences. These could include fines up to £18 million and potential criminal liability for directors.

The government changes are an important step forward.  I welcome them and I am sure many of you do too.

Children should be safe. Safe at home. Safe at school. Safe online.  

PCC Clare Moody