Help the NSPCC put an end to online grooming
THIS week, the NSPCC is launching our #WildWestWeb campaign, which is calling for a mandatory code to regulate social networks to prevent the grooming of children online.
At present, we are often relying on police to intervene after harm has already been done.
In one year (March 1, 2017 to February 28, 2018), the PSNI recorded 68 offences of sexual communication with a child.
We are seeing an alarming rise with the internet, including social media platforms such as Facebook, being used by groomers to sexually exploit and harass children.
As part of our new campaign, we want to see social media companies taken to task on regulating their sites to make them safer for children.
We know that the Government at Westminster has plans to introduce a new voluntary code for social networks across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, which operators could choose to accept or choose to ignore.
However, we believe that this proposal doesn’t go far enough.
For the past 10 years, social networks have been allowed to self-regulate and yet they have consistently failed to take the necessary action needed to keep children safe.
We cannot let them mark their own homework any longer.
As a result, the NSPCC is calling for:
1. An independent regulator for social networks with fining powers;
2. A mandatory code which introduces safe accounts for children, grooming alerts using algorithms, and fast-tracking of reports to moderators which relate to child safety, and;
3. Mandatory transparency reports forcing social networks to disclose how many safety reports they get and how they deal with those reports.
However, as we get set to take on the challenge of regulating the online world for children, I am mindful that the ongoing situation at Stormont means we are currently without a local government in place to fight for our children.
We need our local politicians to prioritise child protection before it becomes too late.
If the UK is to be the safest place in the world for a child to go online, then it’s vital that Northern Ireland representatives work together with Westminster to drive this work forward.
Groomers won’t wait to target our children, so we can’t afford to waste another minute.
NEIL ANDERSON Head, NSPCC (NI)