Mum calls for better online safety laws after daughter, 13, takes own life
Ruth Moss is backing calls for an independent advocacy body for children's safety on the internet
A mum from Edinburgh is calling for better protection of children online after her 13-year-old daughter took her own life.
Ruth Moss, whose daughter Sophie Parkinson died in 2014, says changes must be made to the Online Safety Bill before it is given the green light by the UK Government.
Ruth’s daughter took her own life after viewing harmful content on the internet.
The grieving mum wants a ‘Child Safety Advocate’ to be introduced into the Online Safety Bill, in hopes of better protecting children, like Sophie, online.
Ruth said: “Someone needs to be legally representing children, to ensure that in future, they have a voice, and that harm is prevented.”
This is especially important given the “fast moving, ever-changing environment” on the internet, according to Ruth, who said: “Children and parents cannot be expected to keep up with the latest internet risks, as effectively as an expert children’s advocacy organisation could.”
“A children’s advocacy organisation would be able to concentrate on the processes and safety design of tech platforms, identifying risky design features and problems before they happen.”
Backed by charities
The push for a child safety advocate has been backed by other bereaved families and children’s charities, who are echoing the importance of giving children a voice and protecting them online.
In a recent poll commissioned by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSCPP), 91% of people polled in Scotland agree that an independent advocacy body should be set up to protect children online.
NSPCC Chief Executive, Sir Peter Wanless, has shown support for the draft Bill but he believes it doesn’t go far enough to specifically protect children online and, therefore, a child safety advocate is “crucial for successful regulation.”
He said: “The government’s Online Safety Bill will bring in much needed regulation, but it has been contested by an industry for which children’s safety is too often an afterthought.
'Resistant to change'
“Ofcom will become regulator with child sexual abuse taking place at record levels online and children still being bombarded with suicide content and misogynistic hate driven by aggressive algorithms.
“Despite this, some companies will be resistant to change their business models and Ofcom would benefit from expert support to help clean up decades-worth of harm that is the result of failed self-regulation in the tech sector.”
The decision to introduce a child safety advocate to the Online Safety Bill is set to be debated in the House of Lords next week.