The Government announced last night that the proposed Online Safety Bill is to be strengthened meaning social media companies will have to proactively work to prevent users of social media from encountering harmful content.
Barnardo’s Interim Co-CEO Lynn Perry CEO said:
"Children are at risk every day from serious harm online. We welcome the Government’s decision to strengthen the duties on social networking sites to protect children from content about self-harm, suicide and sexual exploitation.
“However, exposure to pornography also has a hugely harmful impact on children’s mental health and their understanding of healthy relationships, but so far this has not been addressed through the forthcoming legislation.
“We urge the Government to use this once in a generation Online Safety Bill to require age verification on all sites carrying pornography.”