Tackling Online Abuse
Petitions Committee
Closed
Inquiry
The Petitions Committee has launched an inquiry into tackling online abuse, to consider issues raised in a number of petitions from the last Parliament and to follow up on the Committee’s previous inquiry into online abuse and the experiences of disabled people. The inquiry will resume in the wake of …
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22
Recommendations
7
Conclusions
1
Report
5
Oral sessions
5
Events
Activity timeline 12 events
28 Mar
2022
2022
1 Feb
2022
2022
Report published
1 Dec
2021
2021
Oral evidence
1 Dec
2021
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 6, Palace of Westminster
23 Nov
2021
2021
Oral evidence
23 Nov
2021
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
16 Nov
2021
2021
Oral evidence
16 Nov
2021
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 15, Palace of Westminster
2 Nov
2021
2021
Oral evidence
2 Nov
2021
2021
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
2 Jul
2020
2020
Oral evidence
2 Jul
2020
2020
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Virtual meeting
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
1 Dec 2021
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Chris Philp MP · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Orla MacRae · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
23 Nov 2021
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Dr Nicholas Hoggard · Law Commission
Katy Minshall · Twitter
Professor Penney Lewis · The Law Commission
Rebecca Stimson · Meta
Theo Bertram · TikTok
16 Nov 2021
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Tackling Online Abuse
Andy Burrows · NSPCC
Dr Bertie Vidgen · The Alan Turing Institute
Ellen Judson · Demos
Seyi Akiwowo · Glitch
Stephen Kinsella OBE · Clean up the Internet
William Perrin OBE · Carnegie Trust UK
2 Nov 2021
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Tackling Online Abuse
Chara Bakalis · Oxford Brookes University
Danny Stone MBE · Antisemitism Policy Trust
Dr Joe Mulhall · HOPE not hate
Matthew Harrison · The Royal Mencap Society
Nancy Kelley · Stonewall
Ruth Smeeth · Index on Censorship
2 Jul 2020
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Amy Price
Katie Price
Reports 1 report · click to expand
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second Report - Tackling online abuse | HC 766 | 1 Feb 2022 | 29 | Responded |
Recommendations & Conclusions
10 results
2
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
As part of its role as the new online safety regulator, we recommend that Ofcom...
As part of its role as the new online safety regulator, we recommend that Ofcom should regularly report on the incidence of online abuse, illegal hate speech, and Violence Against Women and Girls content on the largest social media platforms. …
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Government Response
The government stated the Online Safety Bill will require large service providers to publish annual transparency reports on online harms, and Ofcom will produce its own report, gather data, and conduct risk assessments and reviews to understand prevalence.
7
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
We recommend that the Online Safety Bill should include abuse based on the characteristics protected...
We recommend that the Online Safety Bill should include abuse based on the characteristics protected under the Equality Act and hate crime legislation as priority harmful content in the primary legislation. It should also list hate crime and Violence Against …
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Government Response
The government agrees to list hate crime and Violence Against Women and Girls offences as priority illegal content in the Online Safety Bill, detailing specific included offences, and announced this change on February 5th.
8
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
The risk assessments platforms will be required to carry out under the new online safety...
The risk assessments platforms will be required to carry out under the new online safety regulatory framework must not treat all users as being equally at risk from abusive content or behaviour. Instead, we recommend that platforms should be required …
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Government Response
The government has accepted the recommendation, stating they have amended the risk assessment provisions in the Online Safety Bill to require companies to specifically consider risks to individuals with certain characteristics or group memberships.
9
Conclusion
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
It is not acceptable that young people should see encountering abuse as just part of...
It is not acceptable that young people should see encountering abuse as just part of the online experience. We welcome the strength of the duties the draft Online Safety Bill would impose on platforms to help reduce the chance that …
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Government Response
The government maintains that the Online Safety Bill's child user condition already addresses the committee's concern about smaller platforms, as it applies to any service likely to attract a significant number of child users regardless of platform size.
10
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
The Government must ensure the Online Safety Bill’s safety duties relating to content harmful to...
The Government must ensure the Online Safety Bill’s safety duties relating to content harmful to children apply across a sufficiently comprehensive range of platforms to prevent young people continuing to be able to access or encounter abusive or other harmful …
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Government Response
The government states the Online Safety Bill is designed to bring high-risk services into scope, and the child user condition ensures protections for children on any in-scope services they are likely to access. They assert this approach is targeted and proportionate, with enforceable requirements for services to assess and review child access.
22
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
Anonymous abuse online is significant in both its volume and impact.
Anonymous abuse online is significant in both its volume and impact. However, the evidence we heard suggested that tackling the abuse being perpetrated under the cloak of anonymity, rather than imposing restrictions on online anonymity, should be the focus of …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation, stating the Online Safety Bill already requires in-scope service providers to identify, mitigate, and manage risks associated with online anonymity. As part of risk assessments, all services must evaluate the role of anonymous profiles in spreading harmful content and implement appropriate protections.
23
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
As part of the risk assessments social media platforms will be required to carry out...
As part of the risk assessments social media platforms will be required to carry out under the new online safety regulation, we recommend that platforms should be required to evaluate the role played by anonymous accounts in creating and disseminating …
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Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation, stating the Online Safety Bill already requires service providers to identify, mitigate, and manage risks associated with online anonymity, implementing appropriate protections as part of their risk assessments.
27
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
While we heard that there is insufficient evidence to determine that anonymity is the main...
While we heard that there is insufficient evidence to determine that anonymity is the main driver of abusive behaviour online, we recognise that a proportion of abusive content comes from anonymous users. Giving users the option to filter out content …
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Government Response
The government welcomes and agrees with the recommendation, detailing new user verification and empowerment duties in the Bill that will allow adult users to verify their identity and control interactions with unverified users.
28
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
We recommend that the Government set an expectation that the largest social media platforms should...
We recommend that the Government set an expectation that the largest social media platforms should offer users the option to filter content by user verification status and block content from users who have chosen not to verify their account. User …
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Government Response
The government welcomes and agrees with the recommendation, stating new user verification and empowerment duties in the Bill will require Category 1 services to offer identity verification and tools for users to control interactions with unverified accounts, with Ofcom guiding on verification methods.
29
Recommendation
Accepted
Second Report - Tackling online ab…
Alongside the legal, technological and regulatory responses to online abuse we have considered in this...
Alongside the legal, technological and regulatory responses to online abuse we have considered in this report, there is also a need to achieve long-term cultural and behavioural change that tackles online abuse by discouraging people from posting such content to …
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Government Response
The government highlights its existing Online Media Literacy Strategy and Action Plan, which includes funding organisations, supporting teachers, and establishing a taskforce to empower users with the skills and knowledge for safe online choices.