VIEWS & OPINION Safety Online – the time to act is now
Comment by MARK BENTLEY, Safeguarding and Cyber Security Lead at edtech charity LGfL–The National Grid for Learning
The scale and nature of children’s experiences of potentially unwanted and inappropriate contact online is shocking. According to the online safety regulator Ofcom – in its research Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes* - three in five secondary-school-aged children (11-18 years) have been contacted online in a way that potentially made them feel uncomfortable. Some 30% have received an unwanted friend or follow request. And around one in six secondary-schoolers (16%) have either been sent naked or half- dressed photos, or been asked to share these themselves.
Under its draft Codes published this November by Ofcom for the Online Safety Bill, large platforms with higher-risk services should ensure that, by default:
• Children are not presented with lists of suggested friends
• Children do not appear in other users’ lists of suggested friends • Children are not visible in other users’ connection lists • Children’s connection lists are not visible to other users
• Accounts outside a child’s connection list cannot send them direct messages, and
• Children’s location information is not visible to any other users.
Ofcom is also proposing that larger platforms with higher-risk services should:
• Use a technology called ‘hash matching’ – which is a way of identifying illegal images of child sexual abuse by matching them to a database of illegal images, to help detect and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM) circulating online, and
• Use automated tools to detect URLs that have been identified as hosting CSAM
• Provide crisis prevention information in response to search requests regarding suicide, and queries seeking specific, practical or instructive information regarding suicide methods.
The bottom line is that this will only work where platforms know the age of their users. To date, platforms only need to say that their site is not intended for under-18s, and it is fairly easy to give a false date of birth or answer yes to “are you over 18?”. The new law however brings in a duty for platforms to have “highly effective” age checking, especially for the most harmful content - ‘primary priority content’ such as pornography and the encouragement of suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. Hopefully in the future we will see a new ecosystem of apps which are appropriate for children, keeping them safe from many other harms too - helped by new duties of care that apply to all sites likely to be used by children.
The good news is that some companies are already quietly releasing new systems for age and identity verification to test the waters - mostly voluntary so far - ahead of enforcement and fines of up to £18 million or 10 per cent of revenue which begins towards the end of 2024. I would like to see more focus on parental controls, which are often difficult to use. I’d also like to see smaller sites brought into the fray – such as sites that encourage eating disorders which have by nature a niche user- base but can cause enormous harm. It’s hoped that previous reliance on parents and schools will be bolstered by industry’s best efforts. In the meantime, schools - who have a responsibility to keep children safe – must continue to hold honest conversations with young people and parents, regarding the risks and harms presented by the online world. Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said: “Our figures show that most secondary-school children have been contacted online in a way that potentially makes them
feel uncomfortable. For many, it happens repeatedly. If these unwanted approaches occurred so often in the outside world, most parents would hardly want their children to leave the house. Yet somehow, in the online space, they have become almost routine. That cannot continue. “Regulation is here, and we’re wasting no time in setting out how we expect tech firms to protect people from illegal harm online, while upholding freedom of expression. Children have told us about the dangers they face, and we’re determined to create a safer life online for young people in particular.”
Change will not happen overnight, but the new legislation means the future is brighter.
Next steps
Over the last three years, Ofcom has been gearing up for its new role by assembling a world-class team, led by Gill Whitehead. It has also been carrying out an extensive programme of research, engaging with industry, collecting evidence to inform its Codes and guidance, building relationships with other regulators in the UK and overseas, and regulating video-sharing platforms.
In November it published a set of draft instruments which, once finalised, will form the basis of pioneering online safety regulation in the UK. As well as the Codes of Practice for online services, these include guidance and registers relating to risk, record keeping and enforcement. Ofcom is now consulting on these detailed documents, hearing from industry and a range of experts as it develops long-term, final versions that it intends to publish in autumn next year.
Services will then have three months to conduct their risk assessment, while Ofcom’s final Codes of Practice will be subject to Parliamentary approval. Ofcom expects this to conclude by the end of next year, at which point the Codes will come into force and it can begin enforcing the regime. Companies who fall short will face enforcement action, including possible fines.
*
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/255852/ childrens-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2023.pdf
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www.education-today.co.uk
December 2023
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