Today the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport have published their response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation.
The announcement that Ofcom will be appointed as the future online harms regulator is a step in the right direction and we look forward to understanding more about how legislation will help achieve the government’s aim of making the UK the ‘safest place in the world to be online’.
PAPYRUS has been campaigning for greater safety online since World Suicide Prevention Day, September 2006. We called on the government to follow the example set by Australia to outlaw internet use to incite or encourage others to take their own lives, and to outlaw internet use to provide information on how to die by suicide.
Chief Executive Ged Flynn, in response to today’s announcement, said “It has taken us 15 years of campaigning to get to this point. Online safety is not just about sex and pornography. To keep our young people safe we need to remove the threats posed by pro-suicide sites, chat rooms and parts of social media. We must make sure that those companies who have allowed harmful content to be published online are held accountable and that they co-operate fully with new legislation.
PAPYRUS will continue to work closely with the Minister for Suicide Prevention and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to help protect our young people online.
You can read the Government’s initial response to the Online Harms White Paper here.
