Build in child protection

The Government will publish a White Paper in the autumn, setting out laws to regulate social networks as part of the Internet Safety Strategy.

It has not yet been revealed what model regulation will take, and whether it will place a legal duty of care on social networks.

Speaking at the How Safe Are Our Children 2018 conference in Westminster, Digital Secretary Matt Hancock told the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s (NSPCC) annual conference that social networks owe a duty of care to their users.

Mr Hancock said: Social media platforms are effectively public spaces. And the owner of any public space, online or offline, has a duty of care to the public who are invited in.

“Technology is made by humanity. So we can shape it for the benefit of humanity. And we must.

“The stakes are high and the challenge is great. But it can be done. So let us rise to that challenge, together.”

His comments come after an NSPCC investigation revealed that there had been more than 3,000 grooming offences in the first year of a new law being introduced. Where police revealed the methods used by groomers, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat were used in 70% of cases.

The NSPCC is calling for the forthcoming White Paper to include measures to force social networks to build protections for children into their platforms, and to require sites to publish annual safety reports to reveal how many safety reports they receive, and how they resolve those reports.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless told conference attendees that the UK is at a landmark moment in child safety online.

He said: “Now, more than ever, we must work together not just to respond to new challenges but to create a culture and a legal framework where new and existing online platforms are built to be safe.

“We are at a landmark moment which, if we get it right, will not just keep children safe today, but for generations to come.” NSPCC, Weston House, 42 Curtain Road, London. EC2A 3NH.