Tech bosses are urged to take control

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless has called on those in charge of popular apps to take control of the situation.

The charity is warning there could be a sharp increase in online grooming offences this year due to the unique threats caused by coronavirus.

Bosses are calling on the Prime Minister to urgently press ahead with legislation that would help prevent offenders from using social media to target children for sexual abuse.

In February, then Digital Minister Matt Warman promised to publish an Online Harms Bill during the current parliamentary session following proposals set out in a White Paper. These proposals called for independent regulation of social networks with potential criminal sanctions if tech directors fail to keep children safe on their platforms.

However a full response is now not expected until the end of the year with concerns there may not be a regulator until 2023.

Mr Wanless spoke to Boris Johnson at a hidden harms round table back in May.

He said: “The Prime Minister signalled to me his determination to stand up to Silicon Valley and make the UK the world leader in online safety.

“He can do this by committing to an Online Harms Bill that puts a legal Duty of Care on big tech to proactively identify and manage safety risks.

“Now is the time to get regulation done and create a watchdog with the teeth to hold tech directors criminally accountable if their platforms allow children to come to serious but avoidable harm.”

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says it intends to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator to ensure companies have ‘appropriate systems and processes’ in place to deal with harmful content.