A new offence which makes it a crime to encourage or assist another person to self-harm comes into effect in Scotland today (31 January).
The offence can be committed online, in correspondence or publications, or in-person and applies regardless of whether an individual goes on to injure themselves or not. Anyone found guilty of this crime can face up to five years in prison.
It is hoped it will act as a deterrent to anyone who sets out to deliberately encourage others to self-harm and will create a safer online environment, particularly for people who may be in distress and looking for help on the internet.
Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd said: “We welcome this new offence which criminalises people who encourage or assist another person to serious self-harm. It will help to make the internet a safer place for everyone.
“We believe this new law aligns with our ambitious approach on self-harm, which is laid out in our dedicated Self-harm Strategy and Action Plan. It demonstrates our ambition to improve support for people who self-harm – a critical part of which is ensuring people are protected from harmful communications.”
Samaritans Scotland Executive Director Neil Mathers said: “Samaritans Scotland welcomes new legislation to take action against those who encourage or assist another person to engage in serious self-harm.
“It is hugely important to keep people safe online and protected from dangerous content and those wishing to cause harm.
“This legislation should only apply to those who encourage self-harm in a deliberate and malicious way, and aims to deter them from targeting vulnerable people.
“The internet can provide advice, helpful information and supportive networks for people seeking help about self-harm. It is crucially important that people can access this support, while being kept safe from dangerous content and those wishing to cause harm.”
The offence under the Online Safety Act (2023) was extended to Scotland through a Legislative Consent Motion agreed in the Scottish Parliament on 29 June 2023.
Online Safety Act receives Royal Assent putting rules to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online into law
Online Safety Act receives Royal Assent in the Houses of Parliament, putting rules to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online into law
the Act makes social media companies keep the internet safe for children and give adults more choice over what they see online
Ofcom will immediately begin work on tackling illegal content and protecting children’s safety
The Online Safety Act has today (Thursday 26 October) received Royal Assent, heralding a new era of internet safety and choice by placing world-first legal duties on social media platforms.
The new laws take a zero-tolerance approach to protecting children from online harm, while empowering adults with more choices over what they see online. This follows rigorous scrutiny and extensive debate within both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
The Act places legal responsibility on tech companies to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, like terrorism and revenge pornography. They will also have to stop children seeing material that is harmful to them such as bullying, content promoting self-harm and eating disorders, and pornography.
If they fail to comply with the rules, they will face significant fines that could reach billions of pounds, and if they don’t take steps required by Ofcom to protect children, their bosses could even face prison.
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “Today will go down as an historic moment that ensures the online safety of British society not only now, but for decades to come.
“I am immensely proud of the work that has gone into the Online Safety Act from its very inception to it becoming law today. The Bill protects free speech, empowers adults and will ensure that platforms remove illegal content.
“At the heart of this Bill, however, is the protection of children. I would like to thank the campaigners, parliamentarians, survivors of abuse and charities that have worked tirelessly, not only to get this Act over the finishing line, but to ensure that it will make the UK the safest place to be online in the world.”
The Act takes a zero-tolerance approach to protecting children by making sure the buck stops with social media platforms for content they host. It does this by making sure they:
remove illegal content quickly or prevent it from appearing in the first place, including content promoting self-harm
prevent children from accessing harmful and age-inappropriate content including pornographic content, content that promotes, encourages or provides instructions for suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, content depicting or encouraging serious violence or bullying content
enforce age limits and use age-checking measures on platforms where content harmful to children is published
ensure social media platforms are more transparent about the risks and dangers posed to children on their sites, including by publishing risk assessments
provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “This landmark law sends a clear message to criminals – whether it’s on our streets, behind closed doors or in far flung corners of the internet, there will be no hiding place for their vile crimes.
“The Online Safety Act’s strongest protections are for children. Social media companies will be held to account for the appalling scale of child sexual abuse occurring on their platforms and our children will be safer.
“We are determined to combat the evil of child sexual exploitation wherever it is found, and this Act is a big step forward.”
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk said: “No-one should be afraid of what they or their children might see online so our reforms will make the internet a safer place for everyone.
“Trolls who encourage serious self-harm, cyberflash or share intimate images without consent now face the very real prospect of time behind bars, helping protect women and girls who are disproportionately impacted by these cowardly crimes.”
In addition to protecting children, the Act also empowers adults to have better control of what they see online. It provides 3 layers of protection for internet users which will:
make sure illegal content is removed
enforce the promises social media platforms make to users when they sign up, through terms and conditions
offer users the option to filter out content, such as online abuse, that they do not want to see
If social media platforms do not comply with these rules, Ofcom could fine them up to £18 million or 10% of their global annual revenue, whichever is biggest – meaning fines handed down to the biggest platforms could reach billions of pounds.
The government also strengthened provisions to address violence against women and girls. Through the Act, it will be easier to convict someone who shares intimate images without consent and new laws will further criminalise the non-consensual sharing of intimate deepfakes.
The change in laws also now make it easier to charge abusers who share intimate images and put more offenders behind bars. Criminals found guilty of this base offence will face up to 6 months in prison, but those who threaten to share such images, or shares them with the intent to cause distress, alarm or humiliation, or to obtain sexual gratification, could face up to two years behind bars.
NSPCC Chief Executive, Sir Peter Wanless said: “Having an Online Safety Act on the statute book is a watershed moment and will mean that children up and down the UK are fundamentally safer in their everyday lives.
“Thanks to the incredible campaigning of abuse survivors and young people and the dedicated hard work of Parliamentarians and Ministers, tech companies will be legally compelled to protect children from sexual abuse and avoidable harm.
T”he NSPCC will continue to ensure there is a rigorous focus on children by everyone involved in regulation. Companies should be acting now, because the ultimate penalties for failure will be eye watering fines and, crucially, criminal sanctions.”
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: “These new laws give Ofcom the power to start making a difference in creating a safer life online for children and adults in the UK. We’ve already trained and hired expert teams with experience across the online sector, and today we’re setting out a clear timeline for holding tech firms to account.
“Ofcom is not a censor, and our new powers are not about taking content down. Our job is to tackle the root causes of harm. We will set new standards online, making sure sites and apps are safer by design. Importantly, we’ll also take full account of people’s rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
“We know a safer life online cannot be achieved overnight; but Ofcom is ready to meet the scale and urgency of the challenge.”
In anticipation of the Bill coming into force, many social media companies have already started making changes. TikTok has implemented stronger age verification on their platforms, while Snapchat has started removing the accounts of underage users.
While the Bill has travelled through Parliament, the government has worked closely with Ofcom to ensure protections will be implemented as quickly as possible once the Act received Royal Assent.
From today, Ofcom will immediately begin work on tackling illegal content, with a consultation process launching on 9th November 2023. They will then take a phased approach to bringing the Online Safety Act into force, prioritising enforcing rules against the most harmful content as soon as possible.
The majority of the Act’s provisions will commence in two months’ time. However, the government has commenced key provisions early to establish Ofcom as the online safety regulator from today and allow them to begin key preparatory work such as consulting as quickly as possible to implement protections for the country.
Rocio Concha, Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy, said: “Which? led the campaign for consumers to have stronger protections against scam adverts on social media platforms and search engines that can have devastating financial and emotional consequences for victims.
“These new Online Safety laws are a major step forward in the fight back against fraud by forcing tech firms to step up and take more responsibility for stopping people being targeted by fraudulent online adverts.
“Ofcom must now develop codes of practice that will hold platforms to a high standard and be prepared to take strong enforcement action, including fines, against firms if they break the law.”
TOUGH new internet laws to protect young people, uphold free speech and make sure there are no safe spaces for criminals online return to Parliament for their second reading this week.
Online safety legislation protecting children will be debated in the Commons
Comes as new plans to support vulnerable people and fight falsities online are launched
Funding boost will help people’s critical thinking online through a new expert Media Literacy Taskforce alongside proposals to pay for training for teachers and library workers
MPs will debate the government’s groundbreaking Online Safety Bill which requires social media platforms, search engines and other apps and websites allowing people to post content to improve the way they protect their users.
Ofcom, the regulator, will have the power to fine companies failing to comply with the laws up to ten per cent of their annual global turnover, force them to improve their practices and block non-compliant sites. Crucially, the laws have strong measures to safeguard children from harmful content such as pornography and child sexual abuse.
Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, the government is launching the next phase of its Online Media Literacy Strategy. It aims to help vulnerable and ‘hard-to-reach’ people, such as those who are digitally excluded or from lower socio-economic backgrounds, navigate the internet safely and teach them to spot falsities online.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will spend £2.5 million to advance the plan through the next year including on training, research and providing expert advice.
This includes a new Media Literacy Taskforce featuring experts from a range of disciplines and a boost to the Media Literacy Fund, which gives teachers and local service providers the skills they need to teach people to improve their critical thinking of what they see online.
Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “The time has come to properly protect people online and this week MPs will debate the most important legislation in the internet age.
“Our groundbreaking Online Safety Bill will make the UK the safest place to surf the web. It has been significantly strengthened following a lengthy period of engagement with people in politics, wider society and industry.
“We want to arm everyone with the skills to navigate the internet safely, so today we’re also announcing a funding boost and plans for experts to join forces with the government to help people spot dodgy information online.
Thinking critically online has never been more important. There was a rise in misinformation and disinformation on social media and other online platforms during the global pandemic and the Kremlin continues to use disinformation to target UK and international audiences to justify its actions in Ukraine.
Ofcom research shows adults are often overconfident in their ability to detect disinformation and only 32 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 know how to use online flagging or reporting functions.
Forty per cent of adult internet users do not have the skills to assess online content critically and children up to the age of 15 are particularly vulnerable.
A new Media Literacy Taskforce with 18 experts from a range of relevant organisations, including Meta, TikTok, Google, Twitter, Ofcom and the Telegraph as well as universities and charities, will work with the government as part of its strategy to tackle disinformation and help hard-to-reach and vulnerable groups in society think about what they see on the web, including improving their ability to protect their data and privacy.
The taskforce will look at new ways to identify and reach people most in need of education. This could include working through local authorities or coordinating support offered by local services to roll out training.
The Media Literacy Fund will expand a pilot ‘Train the Trainer’ programme which ran last year to give teachers, library workers and youth workers more skills to help boost people’s critical thinking skills.
New research will be commissioned to understand the root causes of poor media literacy and on the effectiveness of different methods which aim to build people’s resilience to misinformation and disinformation.
The fund will have a broader scope including a focus on improving media literacy provision for people who are particularly vulnerable online – such as children or people suffering with mental health issues.
Since it launched in July 2021, the Online Media Literacy Strategy has provided £256,000 in grant funding to five organisations to adapt media literacy resources for teachers working with disabled children, run a successful awareness campaign to promote Safer Internet Day and empower LGBTQ+ young people with tools to deal with online abuse.
Nick Poole, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) said: “Media literacy is the key to helping people lead healthier, happier and safer lives online, particularly the most vulnerable and hardest-to-reach in our society.
“As a member of the DCMS Media Literacy Taskforce, I welcome the breadth and ambition of this new Action Plan, which demonstrates the government’s commitment to this important agenda. As librarians and information professionals, we look forward to playing our part in bringing it to fruition.”
Will Gardner OBE, CEO of Childnet International and a Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre said: “Media literacy is a core part of Childnet’s work with children, young people, parents and carers, and we fully support the Media Literacy focus and work of the DCMS. This work has never been as important as it is now.
“There is a great deal of work being done in this space in the UK. The government is playing an important role in helping to identify where there are gaps and where focus or learning is needed, and then supporting responses to that.
“As part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, in February 2022 we worked closely with the DCMS in helping to promote the Safer Internet Day campaign to LGBTQ+ young people. We fully support the continued focus of the Action Plan, including ensuring that ‘hard-to-reach’ groups are supported as well as those who are particularly vulnerable online.”
Free educational resources available on the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) website to help parents with homeschooling
Initiative supported by Government and leading charities, including Barnardo’s, PSHE Association and Childnet
Check the age rating and accompanying ratings info of BBFC rated films or episodic content on the BBFC’s website and free app
Coronavirus is changing daily lives, and in facing the current crisis parents are finding themselves faced with the task of homeschooling their children to keep them safely indoors.
The BBFC has a range of free educational resources, case studies and tools available online, which can help children to access fun, interesting and age-appropriate material. The BBFC’s age ratings, ratings info and resources can also help families more generally choose content well, and avoid potentially distressing material.
CBBFC is the BBFC’s dedicated website for children, which parents can use as a tool to help their children understand what content is right for them, how their choices affect them and those around them, and how to choose films and TV shows well.
The BBFC’s Parents’ Guide to Age Ratings is designed to help parents and carers navigate content with their children. Films, TV shows and websites can make a huge difference in children’s lives, and for children’s healthy development and own sense of wellbeing staying safe online is crucial.
Families can check the age rating and long ratings info – which describes in detail the category defining issues – for BBFC rated content on the BBFC website and free app, keeping their children safe online.
Children can have a go at being a BBFC compliance officer, and rate a trailer themselves. Using the BBFC classification guidelines, children need to think critically about the content in the trailers, consider the audience, and can compare their answer with the actual age rating and ratings info.
Written in partnership with the PSHE Association, the BBFC’s PSHE free resources outline useful ways for parents to use films to talk about films with their children. Parents can download free worksheets, discussion points and lesson plans.
Parents can check out a round up of case studies on the BBFC website, which suggests films to watch and each gives insight into the classification process, as well as suggested discussion points so that parents can help their children begin to think critically about film.
Faye Harcourt, Director of Marketing and Outreach at the BBFC, said: “We are here to help families and young people choose content well. In these difficult times, families are inevitably spending more time online — for homeschooling, entertainment or spending time together as a family.
“It is hard for parents to monitor closely what their children are watching online in normal times but now it is even more challenging. For children’s healthy development and parents’ peace of mind, staying safe online and learning how to avoid content that might upset or disturb is crucial.
“Our dedicated children’s website, CBBFC, has the tools to help parents understand how to keep children safe online and how to teach them to view content that is appropriate to their age. But also it has some fun resources which are enjoyable as well as educational. Film is a great medium to start getting your children thinking critically, as well as giving them an understanding of how what we watch affects us and the people around us.”
This initiative and round up of free resources from the BBFC is welcomed by Government and children’s charities from across the UK.
Minister for Digital and Culture, Caroline Dinenage, said: “As we stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives, it is important that parents and children can access appropriate content for their age.
“The government is completely committed to internet safety and I am delighted to see initiatives like this support our work.”
Barnardo’s Chief Executive Javed Khan said: “The internet is a fantastic tool for parents who are homeschooling their children during the lockdown, and also for streaming their children’s favourite TV programmes at the end of the day. But with so much content available it can be difficult to know what is safe for children.
“The online world must be as safe as the offline world and we cannot expect children to protect themselves. It’s vital that parents have discussions with their children about what is safe for them to watch and why. The BBFC’s website is a useful resource for parents to help assess what’s safe for their children and to help them start conversations at home.”
Sally Martin, PSHE Association Subject Specialist said: “With growing technological developments surrounding film and video content, young people are increasingly required to manage their own viewing habits.
“This is especially true at the moment, where families are spending more time indoors — watching films and media content online is a popular leisure-time activity. These BBFC resources give pupils or children in Year 5-6 (aged 9-11) the opportunity to discuss relevant scenarios, rehearse the skills of decision making and managing peer influence, and understand how age ratings can support safer choices around the media they consume.”
Will Gardner, CEO of Childnet International, said: “In these unprecedented times, where families are finding themselves indoors much more, it’s more important than ever to give children the skills they need to stay safe online.
“We know it can be challenging for parents to keep an eye on their children’s online habits, but these resources from the BBFC can help children make informed decisions about the content they choose to watch.”
The BBFC will continue to highlight movies on their social media channels: their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which are being broadcast that families in lockdown can watch together, with fun quizzes for children and parents alike.
A new national action plan to help protect children and young people online has been launched by Minister for Childcare and Early Years Mark McDonald. The refreshed plan will help children and young people develop the skills they need to stay safe on the internet and support parents and carers to be more aware of the potential risks that their children face online.Continue reading Protecting children online: Action Plan launched
