Safer internet needed

Slowly but surely, the walls of regulation are closing around the internet free-for-all and the social media companies on whose platforms our children spend much of their time. But it is more slowly than surely.

We have campaigned for a Duty of Care to be imposed on these new giants to force them to take their responsibilities seriously. Yet while the Government has made some sensible proposals, its commitment to actually doing something is being questioned. We have yet to see the results of the consultation on a White Paper published in April last year despite ministerial pledges to make the UK the safest place in the world for children online. There was no legislation foreshadowed in the Queen’s Speech and peers recently called for an Online Harms Bill enshrining a duty of care to be presented within the next 12 months.

Some progress will be made today with the publication of a new code of practice issued by the Information Commissioner in the wake of the suicide of schoolgirl Molly Russell, who had watched content promoting self-harm on Instagram and Pinterest. As Lady Kidron points out elsewhere in this newspaper, the material was not being sought out but recommended to her by the apps on the basis of captured personal data.

The code is designed to require online services to consider how the material they are pushing through their algorithms in order to keep users on their sites will affect children and to act in their interests. They will also be responsible for the content they recommend if it is inappropriate or harmful.

This is a start but there is a long way to go to create a safe online space for our children.