Social media firms ‘must protect children’

Social media firms have failed to tackle online child abuse, grooming and bullying, a leading children’s charity has said.

The NSPCC has called on the government to create new laws forcing internet giants such as Facebook and Twitter to do more to stop the rising problem, with those that fail to meet the standards sanctioned and fined.

NSPCC bosses have set out a three-step “rulebook”, which they want enforced by independent regulators, including “safe accounts” with the highest privacy settings for under18s, grooming and bullying notifications for youngsters being targeted and child safety moderators employed by all networks.

The charity’s chief executive Peter Wanless said leaving sites to make up their own rules was unacceptable.