Don’t lose nerve on social media regulation, Javid urged by NSPCC
MINISTERS are at risk of losing their nerve in the war against online child abuse by letting social media companies off the hook, the NSPCC warns today.
In an exclusive article for The Daily
Telegraph, Peter Wanless, the NSPCC’S chief executive, said it was disappointing that the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, had given the social media giants another chance to escape new laws that would force them to crack down on child abuse rife on their sites.
In his speech last week at the NSPCC’S London headquarters, Mr Javid gave the companies two months to deliver on an action plan so the Government could determine how far it would need to legislate, leaving open the door to self-regulation.
“That is disappointing,” writes Mr Wanless. “In other sectors where users are put at risk, whether payday lenders or energy drinks, action is taken.
“We have seen 13 different self-regulatory initiatives introduced since 2005. Our experience tells us the tech companies will not take action until and unless they are forced to do so.
“I urge the Government to hold its nerve and deliver tough and effective legislation regardless of any warm words from tech giants over the coming months.” The Telegraph has launched a campaign for a statutory duty of care to be imposed on the social media firms to better protect children from online harms.
Mr Wanless also warned that it was not enough for the companies just to take down images or videos of child abuse.
More important was for social media companies to develop and use their technology to prevent images being uploaded in the first place and to catch groomers before they made contact with children.
“Legislation must force social networks to apply technology to detect grooming, to stop abuse before it escalates,”
Algorithms could detect the trawling tactics of paedophiles who create multiple identities
said Mr Wanless. The NSPCC argues that algorithms could detect the trawling tactics of paedophiles who create multiple identities to approach hundreds of children and entice them into sharing sexual images.
The Government’s White Paper on social media is due at the end of the year.
In its consultation it proposed a statutory code of practice for social networks that would give Britain the toughest regulation in the world and is opposed by the companies. The US is considering similar legislation.
The Home Office said Mr Javid had been unequivocal in his demand that the web giants removed child abuse material and take action in five areas.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid’s commitment to taking on big tech is encouraging, but long overdue. Successive governments have failed to secure effective protection for children from what he describes as “invisible predators” online.
Speaking at the NSPCC last week, Mr Javid set out five challenges to social networks in tackling child sexual exploitation online. He demands that companies block child abuse material as soon as it’s uploaded; stop online grooming; shut down live-streaming of abuse; better cooperate with law enforcement; and increase transparency and share best practice within industry. Sounds good.
These demands indicate that Government is moving in the right direction. It is vital that it does not falter. A forthcoming White Paper is to set out laws to regulate social networks.
But the Home Secretary said in his speech last Monday: “How far we legislate will be informed by the action and attitude that industry takes.” That is disappointing. In other sectors where users are put at risk, whether by payday lenders or energy drinks, action is taken.
We have seen 13 different self-regulatory initiatives introduced since 2005. Our experience tells us the tech companies will not take action until and unless they are forced to do so.
I urge the Government to hold its nerve and deliver tough legislation regardless of any warm words from tech giants. Much focus has been on taking down images or videos of abuse, which is a vital part of tackling online child sexual abuse. But this is not enough. Once abuse has been documented on camera, harm has already been done. Lives have been ruined. Preventing abuse from happening in the first place is what urgently needs to happen.
NSPCC research shows that every day there are an average of nine offences of Sexual Communication with a Child in England and Wales alone. That means there could be more than 1,000 more offences recorded by Christmas. Legislation must force social networks to apply technology to detect grooming to stop abuse before it escalates.
Even if huge corporations take action to stop abuse from happening, children must be protected wherever they are online. In the past year, a total of 80 different platforms were recorded by police in England and Wales as being used to send sexual messages to children. That is why we need a regulator that can hold all social networks, big and small, to a minimum set of safety standards and to uphold a duty of care to their young users. And that regulator must have teeth.
To properly tackle abuse, social networks must be forced to tell us the scale of abuse on their sites. Via annual transparency reports, we need to know how many child users they have, how many child endangerment reports they receive, how those reports are dealt with and how swiftly they are dealt with. These reports will mean parents can see which sites are taking child protection seriously, and will shame underperforming sites into action.
I have written to Mr Javid welcoming the fact he has made it his personal mission to tackle online child sexual exploitation and to end the Wild West Web. The NSPCC stands ready to help in any way it can. We have a fantastic opportunity to stop abuse where it starts, and to ensure the sites children love are safe from the moment they log on. This must be the moment our nation stands up to tech giants for the safety of our children.