‘Abuse should never be part of democracy’

sectors to drill down into the issue.

Among those supporting her are Stop Funding Hate, the Conscious Advertisers network and Journalism Without Borders alongside the editors of JPIMedia sister titles in the region.

Ms Lynch said: “We have all shared personal lived experiences.

“We are all adults who have jobs in the public eye.

“Our opinions and decisions will come under a degree of scrutiny and we accept that.

“But it’s tough for us as adults to deal with the abuse on social media that comes with this.

“So then when you think about children and vulnerable adults that are subjected to some of the worst horrors of the internet without any online filters to protect them.

“We really have got a moral obligation to sort this out and protect the next generation from this online abuse which can take so many forms.” This week saw Ms Lynch powerfully speak about the impact of social abuse and continue her quest to hold the Government to account for its Online Harms Bill during a Westminster Hall debate. And she was incredibly touched by the support she received from colleagues and different organisations who shared the strength of feeling about getting a grip on the issue.

Ms Lynch said: “I was absolutely overwhelmed to secure the debate and so many organisations got in touch to share their research and evidence, such was the strength of feeling and support for much tougher regulation of the internet.

“Having secured the debate I was then approached by the Petitions Committee with four petitions attached which were signed by more than 500,000 people.”

Another approach the work group is undertaking is looking at piling pressure on advertisers.

“We all enjoy social media when it works well and we want our young people to enjoy it too but it needs to be a safe space and at the moment it’s not,” she added. “We need society as a whole to we want to go in a different direction now.

“We’ve still got a long journey ahead of us but we’re taking the right steps.”