
IWF welcomes Government commitment to keeping children safe online
The IWF welcomes the Government's commitment to keeping children safe online
The IWF welcomes the Government's commitment to keeping children safe online
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is urging Ministers to act swiftly and ensure world-leading legislation to protect children online is not put at risk by further Government delays.
The IWF says delaying the Online Safety Bill will see more children victimised and sexually abused amid fears the long-awaited legislation is set to suffer another delay.
'With so much up in the air, we must never lose focus on the most vulnerable people in our society.'
The draft legislation aims to make the internet safer, and will establish Ofcom as a statutory regulator to enforce standards on a range of online harms including the availability and spread of child sexual abuse material.
The Age Appropriate Design Code, which comes into effect today (September 2), sets out 15 standards that online services need to follow.
' They have acknowledged that, while customers’ privacy must be respected and protected, it cannot be at the expense of children’s safety.'
Last week, the UK Government published the draft draft Online Safety Bill which aims to “put an end to harmful practices online".
“Anything which weakens protections for children is unacceptable. Christmas is supposed to be a time where we look out for the youngest and most vulnerable. It is not the time to give predators a free pass to share videos of abuse and rape"
Throughout the lockdown period the IWF Hotline has remained operational, but social distancing measures meant some activities had to be scaled back