UK public backs strengthening Online Safety Bill to give children a voice in online safety regulation

An amendment that would create a dedicated child online safety advocate is due to be debated by Lords next week.

The UK public has overwhelmingly backed calls to strengthen the Online Safety Bill with an independent body to promote and protect children’s interests and safety.

Our YouGov polling¹ shows four in five want an independent advocacy body to be created with an amendment to the Online Safety Bill due to be debated in the House of Lords next week.

The amendment, tabled by former Victim's Commissioner; Conservative peer Baroness Helen Newlove, would help ensure children’s voices are heard by the regulator Ofcom and provide a counterbalance to the powerful lobbying of large tech companies.

It's backed by Labour's Lord Jim Knight, online child safety campaigner Baroness Beeban Kidron and Baroness Claire Tyler for the Liberal Democrats.

Barnardo's, Young Minds, 5Rights and the Molly Rose Foundation and Breck Foundation, founded by bereaved parents Ian Russell and Lorin LaFave, have also strongly urged Government to adopt the amendment.

The survey comes as messages from more than 1,000 campaigners, parents, young people and survivors of online abuse were delivered to the Government, urging them to create a child online safety advocate to counteract the influencing power of big tech companies.

It shows consistent support for extra measures in the Online Safety Bill to better protect children by voters of all main parties and people of all ages, genders and backgrounds across the UK.

Our polling reveals:

Four in five (80%) want an independent advocacy body to be set up that acts specifically to promote and protect children's interests and safety online.
83% say the Online Safety Bill should create the advocacy body to ensure technology companies and regulators fully understand the risks children face on social media.
86% think it’s necessary that new social media regulator Ofcom listens to the opinions and experiences of children.

The Online Safety Bill is currently being debated by Lords. We have called for it to be strengthened with an child online safety advocate to underpin the Government’s commitment to prioritise child safety in the regulation.

The move would mirror statutory user advocacy arrangements that are effective across other regulated sectors, including energy and transport.

We back the vital measures in the Online Safety Bill, but the new legislation does not have the mechanisms to ensure the experiences of children in the online world will be heard sufficiently quickly or powerfully by decision makers.

We want a child online safety advocate which can promote, protect, and represent children’s interests, amplify their voices and plug the gap left by years of inaction by tech firms to give children basic protections on their sites.

This would help ensure that children’s voices are not drowned out by large tech companies by providing direct representation for their needs in the new regulatory regime.

The advocate would also spot emerging risks to children and ensure they are swiftly tackled by tech companies before they can lead to serious harm.

NSPCC Chief Executive Sir Peter Wanless said:

peter wanless osb.jpg

“The Government’s Online Safety Bill will bring in much needed regulation, but it has been contested by an industry for which children’s safety is too often an afterthought.

“Ofcom will become regulator with child sexual abuse taking place at record levels online and children still being bombarded with suicide content and misogynistic hate driven by aggressive algorithms.

“Despite this some companies will be resistant to change their business models and Ofcom would benefit from expert support to help clean up decades-worth of harm that is the result of failed self-regulation in the tech sector.

“A statutory child online safety advocate will be crucial for successful regulation. It will give a powerful voice to the experiences of children and act as an early warning system that embeds a focus on prevention into decision making.”

Supporters of the Bill

The move is supported by Ruth Moss, whose daughter Sophie died by suicide after viewing harmful material on social media. Ruth is one of those who shared their experiences with the Ministers. Ruth Moss said:

"Someone needs to be legally representing children, to ensure that in future, they have a voice, and that harm is prevented. The internet is a fast-moving, ever-changing environment. Children and parents cannot be expected to keep up with the latest internet risks, as effectively as an expert children’s advocacy organisation could. A children’s advocacy organisation would be able to concentrate on the processes and safety design of tech platforms, identifying risky design features and problems before they happen."

Lorin LaFave set up the Breck foundation after her son was murdered after being groomed online. Lorin said:

"As we can see by these results the public are in full support of ensuring children’s experiences and interactions online are safe, and free from harm and abuse. “There is nothing more important than enabling children to navigate the internet safely and this can only be possible with the assurance from an advocacy body that the tech companies are providing platforms which are free from predatory and dangerous behaviour towards children."

Molly Rose Russell was 14 when she died by self-harm while suffering the negative effects of online content. Spokesperson for the Molly Rose Foundation, Andy Burrows, said:

"The Molly Rose Foundation strongly supports this amendment as a crucial piece of the jigsaw to protect children from preventable online harm. If online safety regulation is to succeed, children need a strong, resourced and expert watchdog body that can protect their interests and that can hold tech companies to account and the regulator's feet to the fire. NSPCC polling has revealed that 86% of people think it’s necessary that Ofcom listens to the opinions and experiences of children and 83% say the Online Safety Bill should create the advocacy body. Clearly the public also feels this is a necessary step to give our children a seat at the table."

References

1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1723 adults in UK who consented to answer questions about children's online safety . Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th - 27th April 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
- Asked Do you think that the Online Safety Bill should or should not make it a requirement for an independent advocacy body to be set up that acts specifically to promote and protect children's interests and safety online? 80% said should, 5 said should not, 13% said don’t know.
- Asked Do you think the Online Safety Bill should or should not make it requirement for an independent advocacy body to be set up to ensure technology companies and regulators fully understand the risks children face on social media? 83% said should, 6% said should not, 11% said don’t know.
- Asked To what extent, if at all, do you think it is necessary that the Online Safety Bill ensures that Ofcom listens to the opinions and experiences of children online? 86% answered necessary, 5% answered not necessary and 8% answered don’t know.