A few weeks ago, visiting the NSPCC, I met young people who spoke candidly about their online lives – the good and the bad. Several of them told me they were scared: scared of cyberbullying; scared of grooming; and scared about whatever they might scroll to see next.
Many of these children had been left distraught by the horrific images and videos they had seen online. Some of them felt powerless in the face of an anonymous algorithm that was feeding them more and more of this distressing content. Reporting it was difficult. Even if they succeeded in getting one disturbing post taken down, they knew that it wouldn’t be long before they saw another.
I spoke to volunteers, too, many of whom had spent their nights in the call centre helping children who had fallen victim to a growing epidemic of online crime. Some of those children had been pulled under by a tidal of wave of content promoting suicide and self-harm. Others were struggling to stay afloat after their pictures were stolen by online predators or shared by their classmates.
The stories I heard were heartbreaking. They were infuriating, too. In the last decade, we have seen thousands of cases just like these – and we have done nothing. Faced with such damning evidence of our collective failure to keep people safe, we must ask ourselves how we got here. How we allowed children to be groomed by predators on social media sites that promised their parents they would be safe. How we stood by while women’s abusive partners posted intimate images of them online, forcing them to live for ever with knowledge that thousands had seen them at their most vulnerable. How we failed to prevent fraudsters scamming elderly people out of the savings they had spent their lives working hard for.
A decade lost to indecision and delay has come at a terrible human cost. For many families, it is already too late. Nothing we do now will bring their loved ones back. But we owe it to them to ensure that no more lives are needlessly lost to this epidemic.
The draft illegal harms codes that Ofcom has published today are the biggest ever change to online safety policy. No longer will internet terrorists and child abusers be able to behave with impunity. Because for the first time, tech firms will be forced to proactively take down illegal content that plagues our internet. If they don’t, they will face enormous fines and, if necessary, Ofcom can ask the courts to block access to their platforms in Britain.
The codes will make it easier for police and regulators to report fraud and scams to the sites where they’re happening. At the same time, they will make it harder for strangers to contact children online and also expand the use of automated tools that can detect child sexual abuse material.
Today I have also set out criteria for the sites that will face additional duties under the Online Safety Act. This summer, we saw just how far and fast false rumours – often intentionally started by racist aggravators – were spread on large online services, spilling over into simmering hatred on streets up and down the country.
My decision means that the most popular platforms (known as category 1) will be forced to uphold their terms of service by taking down harmful content that, while legal for adults, contradicts the promises they have made to the people who use them.
The online world we have built is a vast, unpredictable experiment. As a society, we have taken a great leap into the unknown. Young people today must contend with challenges that no other generation in history has faced. But uncertainty cannot excuse inaction. If there is no blueprint for tackling this epidemic, then we must make our own.
The illegal harms codes that Ofcom has set out today are genuinely world-leading. They will make Britain one of the safest places in the world to be online. But I hope that they will also give citizens the confidence to seize the extraordinary opportunities that an analogue world just cannot offer.
Some people compare social media with cigarettes; the parallels are striking. Today we have put an end to years of denial and wilful ignorance. Just as we did when we addressed indoor smoking, we have faced up to our failures and found the courage to come up with our own answers. But there is a crucial difference: while you cannot smoke safely, I believe you can be safe online.
The children I met also spoke about the reasons why, despite the dangers they face, they still log on. Today the internet is helping them learn new things and stay in touch with family far away. Soon it might help them find good jobs or meet their future partner. If they come back to the NSPCC as a volunteer, they will find that the internet provides a vital lifeline to vulnerable children who reach out for the help they cannot find at home.
No matter what they choose to do, though, I want them to be able to look back and recognise that this was the moment when everything changed. Because the work to build a better online world for all has finally begun.
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Peter Kyle is secretary of state for science, innovation and technology
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