Will the Online Safety Bill fix social media?
As the Online Safety Bill passes through Parliament, Daniel Smith uncovers the heart-breaking dangers of the online world to see if the legislation will truly reach those it needs to.
Britain's Online Safety Bill will create a new set of laws that will make social media companies more responsible for their user's safety in a fight against harmful content.
The Bill has been working its way through Parliament since May 2021, and if passed, intends to make OFCOM a regulator to ensure companies are complying, dishing out heavy fines if not.
A lot of the Bill's focus has been on the social media giants, however harmful content can be found across the internet on smaller websites and pages.
Catherine Adenekan, 52, has been fighting against harmful content after the death of her 23-year-old son, Joe Nihill, in 2020 alongside her daughter-in-law Melanie Saville, 30.
Her son committed suicide in their family home in Leeds just over three years ago on April 4, 2020, after viewing pro-suicide websites online.
Ms Adenekan feels like the Online Safety Bill has been more directed towards children, and vulnerable adults like her son, haven't been addressed.
"He was a ball of fun, full of life, outgoing, joking,"
"There were mental health checks from January 2020, and we went to appointments with him, sat up with him, just whatever he asked us to do.
"A few weeks before his suicide, the hospital gave him some more tablets to go alongside the ones he was already on.
"We thought that was kicking in because although he wasn't back to his usual self, he was opening up more, doing a bit more and asking us to trust him."
However, Ms Adenekan explained that this was an act put on after the website he was viewing told him how to behave in front of mental health professionals, family, and friends:
"When we found him that morning, it was like oh my god.
"We found the website the same evening, it was telling him how to behave and how to commit suicide, so we didn't suspect anything.
"He was doing exactly as that website said."
Ms Adenekan added that she wasn't entirely shocked about the website, but the fact it is allowed:
"I don't think it was shock, it was more disgust.
"How is that allowed? How is that allowed to just be on the internet so freely?
"It is even more shocking that it is allowed here when it is banned in other countries like Italy, Germany and Australia."
The suicide note left behind finished with Joe hoping the Police would do their best in closing the website down for everyone else and asking them to look after his mum and family.
Mr Nihill's death sparked the pair to fight against harmful content, with them visiting Parliament and speaking to families who have been similarly affected.
Ms Adenekan explained they have had around 30 families come to them since her son's death:
"Everyday we are seeing other people that have taken their lives.
"Families reach out, over 30 families in the UK since 2020 have come to us and we know there is others that we have seen in the news.
"And we know some families haven't worked out the connection between the website and their loved one's suicide."
Melanie Saville is helping Mr Nihill's mother fight against harmful content online and spread awareness on the need for vulnerable adults to be taken into more consideration in the Online Safety Bill.
Melanie Saville is helping Mr Nihill's mother fight against harmful content online and spread awareness on the need for vulnerable adults to be taken into more consideration in the Online Safety Bill.
Ms Saville, Joe's brother's partner, admitted she never even knew websites like this existed:
"Not at all, we didn't come across it until Joe was found.
"The site was very easy to find, we just had to type a few words in, and we found it.
"Even till this day we know it is easy to access and still exists.
Both Ms Saville and Mr Nihill's mother agree that the Bill in its current stages is not doing enough:
"It is not doing enough, no," Ms Saville stated.
"I want to see that Bill directly shut down these websites.
"If other countries can block that content without giving warnings, why can't we?
"It's because companies like Google are earning money from the people that view these sites."
Ms Saville also believes the Online Safety Bill misses out on vulnerable adults and is too focused on children:
"It is too focused towards children, like they are the only ones that matter.
"It feels like it doesn't matter about anyone else, and we have raised that with parliament every time we have spoken that it is not just children, but those who are vulnerable," she explained.
"MP's say these things will change, but until it is seen physically then we just have to keep doing what we're doing, there is always changes, amendments, so let's see."
Current amendments to the Bill have allowed social media bosses to escape criminal prosecution over illegal content promoting suicide and self-harm, leaving Ms Saville dissatisfied:
"We will only be satisfied once the sites are blocked, and the people that host this content are prosecuted otherwise they could open it up elsewhere.
"These people need to be held accountable."
Catherine Adenekan (left) and Melanie Saville (right) discuss the Online Safety Bill in relation to Joe Nihill's death in April 2020.
Catherine Adenekan (left) and Melanie Saville (right) discuss the Online Safety Bill in relation to Joe Nihill's death in April 2020.
A guide to the Online Safety Bill as published by the government.
Illegal content has been defined as:
- Child sexual abuse
- Controlling or coercive behaviour
- Extreme sexual violence
- Fraud
- Hate crime
- Inciting violence
- Illegal immigration and people smuggling
- Promoting or facilitating suicide
- Promoting self-harm
- Revenge porn
- Selling illegal drugs or weapons
- Sexual exploitation
- Terrorism
Whilst some content may not be illegal, it could be harmful to children. Platforms will need to show they are preventing children from accessing this type of content, which includes:
- Pornographic content
- Online abuse, cyberbullying or online harassment
- Content that does not meet a criminal level but which promotes or glorifies suicide, self-harm or eating disorders
Despite age limits currently set at 13 on most social media platforms, this is typically not enforced. This will change under the Bill which should make social media companies demonstrate how they are enforcing age limits.
Social media companies will have to show they are doing the upmost to protect children.
Adults will be able to use the largest platforms with 'easy to access' tools that can filter what content they see and who they engage with. An example of this is giving them the opportunity to filter out unverified users. These large platforms will need to provide tools to help reduce the likelihood users come across harmful content too. For children this will be automatic.
Andy Burrows, 41, former Head of Online Safety Policy at NSPCC, was responsible for the initial campaign that secured the government's commitment to the Online Safety Bill.
Now Mr Burrows works a technology expert and advisor at the Molly Rose foundation, the charity created after the tragic suicide of 14-year-old Molly Russell in 2017.
An inquest into Russell's death found that harmful social media content contributed 'more than minimally' to her death.
Burrows has been following the changes and amendments to the Online Safety Bill and can only confirm a 'maybe' on the removal of sites that Mr Nihill viewed:
"It is a maybe, I am afraid.
"Because these sites are arguably hosting material which meets the criminal threshold, they could be taken down by Ofcom.
"However, this depends on how strictly Ofcom enforce the regime, as in practice this would probably need civil society to keep the pressure up to get them to intervene."
As a result of this, Mr Burrows is worried that harm is not tackled, but more rather displaced to smaller sites as there is a focus on the large social media giants:
"So, the Bill will not cover all sites that are likely to be accessed by a child, so if a platform can argue or chooses to argue that it does not have a sizeable number of children using its product, it can be excluded.
"Again, this is an example of the Bill being dragged out and watered down. Is it still doing what it was originally set out to do so? And is it ticking all the boxes in doing everything it can to protect children and adults, no it isn't.
"The Bill is still essential though, and regulation is needed to boost safety as we've seen in the past the responsibility to be on children and parents which only goes so far."
Mr Burrows also believes that it is a 'tragedy' the Bill doesn't take into consideration vulnerable adults, like Mr Nihill, and has a much bigger focus on children:
"It is a real tragedy.
"But the reason why that has happened is because the Bill has been politicised and is choosing to embrace a politicised understanding rather than the lived reality of harm.
"Platforms will not be under any minimum obligation to meet standards against suicide material.
"They will have to offer the ability to filter out content like that, but it is placing the responsibility on adults to keep themselves safe, which is a massively flawed understanding of how vulnerable people will behave."
Mr Burrows has also listed some of the other areas the Bill is lacking on to see how far this legislation could fix social media:
"There are plenty of areas it misses out on with misinformation and disinformation being one of them.
"It is failing to do enough around transparency which is important to lift up the bonnet to see how the nuts and bolts of these platforms are working to see design issues on algorithms.
"The public wants this Bill to stop future Molly Russells or Joe Nihills, child sex abuse, misogyny from people like Andrew Tate or the nasty racism we get at every football tournament.
"But with those last two, you are talking about harmful but not necessarily illegal content, and this Bill will not match those perfectly reasonable ambitions most people have.
"It should be doing those things, but it currently isn't."
Photo by Thomas Lefebvre on Unsplash
Photo by Thomas Lefebvre on Unsplash
Mr Burrows has also settled the recent panic over weakening end to end encryption, which is a system used in many online spaces that ensures only those who send and receive messages can read them.
The worry over whether data would leak, or privacy would be breached is exaggerated according to Mr Burrows, and believes there should not be a trade-off between privacy and safety:
"There is a balance to be struck. Two thirds of child sex abuse material that is detected is found in private messaging, so to have a safety law that doesn't include this is nonsense.
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash
"For privacy activists or technology companies there is a trade-off, you can have privacy or safety but not both.
"This is not the case, as one in five internet users are children - who are inherently vulnerable - and deserve their needs in a democratic sense to be part of the mix.
"We should not be trading one over the other," he explained.
"In today's age we have systems that can offer end to end encryption but still scan for child abuse images so maximising the privacy for adults and continuing threat detection for children.
"It is increasingly clear that this is a policy choice, as the technology is there so if threat detection and scanning is not happening over encrypted messages, that is a conscious choice.
"Only 4% of people think adult privacy should be prioritised over children's safety, so there isn't much need for so much light on weakened encryption.
"The Bill needs to ensure these companies are doing everything they can in that aspect, and it looks like it will so a lot of the discourse over encryption is quite frustrating."
How do parents feel?
With all the advancements in technology and social media parents can often feel left behind or lack knowhow on controlling their children's phones.
The Online Safety Bill once in the lawbook will offer protection, but it is important for parents to understand what they're potentially exposing their children to when they are granted devices or access to social media.
Tracy Winter, 44, a single parent from Nottingham has regrets over not monitoring her son's phone and feels there is very limited resources to help parents:
Tracy Winter, 44, single parent from Nottingham
Tracy Winter, 44, single parent from Nottingham
"I didn't understand Snapchat, I didn't understand a lot of social media apps and I just don't feel there is much out there to really educate parents."
"I feel the internet is so secretive, and you don't want to invade privacy, but you do have to try and monitor otherwise are we really protecting our children?
"I hear about teenagers sharing naked pictures of themselves, we never did that in my day, so I just was quite ignorantly unaware, but I honestly didn't know just how advanced it got."
"With social media I think people show off too much, and as a single parent it is even more difficult to deal with that with this idea around needing things.
"In my opinion this is getting worse, and I'm worried about how social media affects young minds which does make me look back and think I probably should have done more but I just didn't know.
"I don't think there is much out there updating parents, I think it would be good to get information through the school lines.
"I do welcome the Online Safety Bill and I do think it will help and make things safer, but maybe not to the extent people were hoping."
Resources for parents:
Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash.
Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash.
Social media basics:
Gain insight into the world of social media to help your children stay safe online.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.
Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash.
Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash.
Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash.
Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash.
Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash.
Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash.
Mental health:
Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash.
Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.
What is snapchat?:
Snapchat is a very popular social media and messaging platform.
Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash.
Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash.
