The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Media
Established in March 2018, the group works to drive policy change that maximises the positives and mitigates the negatives of social media.
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UK policy work
We operate independently of government, but have a good working relationship with the Home Office, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education.
The IWF was also a core participant to the Internet strand of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Following the conclusion of the inquiry, we have formed the IICSA changemakers along with the other leaders in this space, designed to put pressure on Government to implement the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry.
Recent Policy Briefs
- Impact of smartphones and social media on children - 14 May
- Briefing from the Internet Watch Foundation: Criminal Justice Bill Report Stage
- Criminal Justice Bill 2nd Reading – Tuesday 28 November 2023
- King’s Speech Debate - Reducing violent crime and raising confidence in policing and the criminal justice system - 15 November 2023
- Online Safety Bill - House of Lords, Briefing for Report Stage
- Online Safety Bill - 2nd Reading House of Lords - Wednesday 1 February 2023
- Online Safety Bill Report Stage (Day 2) - Monday 5 December
- Online Safety Bill 2nd reading briefing- Tuesday 19 April 2022
- Briefing: House of Lords Oral Question on “Talking to your child about online sexual harassment
- Backbench business debate - Report of the Draft Online Safety Bill Committee
- Draft Online Safety Bill briefing May 2021
- IWF briefing on the Full Government response to the Online Harms Consultation December 2020
- IWF briefing on Regulation and the Prevention of Online Harms Backbench Business Debate November 2020
- UK Safer Internet Centre: Online Harms Westminster Hall Debate October 2020
- Executive Summary of the IWF’s response to the Online Harms White Paper March 2019
- IWF position on the Online Harms White Paper January 2019
Consultations
Wherever relevant, we share our expertise, good practice and partnership approach with organisations, policymakers, hotlines, Government, law enforcement and others.
As part of this, the IWF often responds to consultations relevant to our work. Our submissions to recent consultations include the following:
- Protecting Children from Harms Online Consultation response
- Review of the RSHE statutory guidance
- IWF Ofcom Illegal Harms Consultation response
- IWF response to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT’s) consultation on super-complaints eligibility entity criteria and procedural requirements - January 2024
- IWF response to Digital Economy Act 2010: Powers in relation to UK-related domain dame registries
- IWF response to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on Content Moderation
- IWF response to Ofcom call for evidence first phase of online safety regulation - September 2022
- IWF written evidence to Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee- 18 May 2022
- Response to Ofcom plan of work consultation
- IWF response to the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Committee of the Draft Online Safety Bill
- IWF response to the UK Government’s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy
- IWF response to Mozilla DoH consultation
- IWF response to the Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry on the Home Office preparedness for and response to COVID-19
- IWF response to the Online Harms White Paper
- IWF response to the Home Affairs Select Committee Report: Future of Policing
- IWF Evidence Session to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Inquiry into Social Media & Screen Use
- IWF response to the House of Lords Communications Select Committee Inquiry into the future of internet regulation
- IWF response to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Internet Safety Strategy Consultation
- IWF response to the Home Office's consultation on Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the people - September 2010
- IWF response to Ofcom’s consultation on Traffic Management and 'Net Neutrality' - September 2010
- APPG on Communications Inquiry on Internet Traffic - May 2009
- Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee inquiry into harmful content on the internet and in video games – July 2008
- Byron Review – call for evidence - December 2007
- Government consultation on the Possession of Non-Photographic Visual Depictions of Child Sexual Abuse- 2007
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Media
Since November 2020, the IWF (as part of the UK Safer Internet Centre) has been providing the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Social Media. This APPG works to drive policy change that maximises the positives and mitigates the negatives of social media.
The APPG completed an inquiry into “Selfie Generation: what’s behind the rise in self-generated indecent images of children online?” in 2021 and received written and oral evidence from academics, child protection experts, law enforcement, tech companies and individuals.
View the APPG's report here.
To contact the IWF Policy and Public Affairs team, please email Bobbie Dennis, Policy and Public Affairs Officer at [email protected]