Online safety shouldn’t be on children, says Childline

The internet is an incredible tool, but in recent years it has become ever clearer that children are at more risk than ever, due in part to tech companies not designing their platforms with the safety of young people in mind.

After five years of campaigning, the Online Safety Act 2023 was passed last October and was welcomed by Childline and the NSPCC. Childline said it expects the ground-breaking legislation will help keep children safer online by giving tech companies a legal duty to protect them from sexual abuse and harmful material on social media sites, gaming apps and messaging services. Around 34,000 online grooming crimes have been recorded by UK police since the Online Safety Bill was first discussed in 2018.

The children's charity said the responsibility for staying safe online shouldn’t be on children, when tech firms can build protection into their platforms which will prevent them being bombarded with harmful suicide and self-harm content on social media.

It is this sort of material that was starkly highlighted by the inquest into the death of 14-yearold schoolgirl Molly Russell in September 2022, which ruled that the self-harm and suicide content she had been recommended on social media had contributed to her death.

It is hoped the new legislation will help stop this happening to other children. Childline is always available to help young people, and any young person, parent or guardian who needs support should make use of the many resources available at www. childline.org.uk/ or www.nspcc.org.uk