Sarah Champion: the Tories must act now to protect children online

Today is Safer Internet Day and it could not come at a more important time.

Last week, the NSPCC published Ten years since the Byron Review, an assessment of 38 recommendations made to the government in 2008 on how to keep children safe online.

Disgracefully, ten years on from the Government commissioned report, only 13 of the 38 recommendations have been fully implemented. 25 issues remain unaddressed, leaving our children at risk.  

Children have a right to be safe wherever they are, including when they are online, so what can be done?

Firstly, when over half of all four year olds use the internet, and almost half of all ten year olds have their own smartphone, it is vital that children know how to keep themselves safe online. Following my Dare2Care campaign to prevent child abuse and violence in teenage relationships, the government committed to introducing mandatory age-appropriate relationships and sex education (RSE) for all children. The new guidance for RSE must include online safety, including appropriate online conduct and online relationships.

Secondly, adults need to know how to keep children safe online. The government needs to ensure online safety training is provided for all primary and secondary school teachers. And the games industry needs to do more to make parents aware of how they can use parental controls to safeguard their children.

Thirdly, internet service providers must do more to protect children online. The communication features on gaming platforms and social networks do not have adequate protections in place. In the six months following the law making it an offence for an adult to send a sexual message to a child came into force, 1,316 offences were recorded by the police. We need minimum standards and a statutory code of practice for all online providers focused on the online safety of children.

The consultation on the government’s internet safety strategy ended on December 7 and still we wait for progress. This is a government that repeatedly fails to act on its promises. Now they are dragging their heels on a crucial matter of child protection.

We simply cannot wait another ten years to make the digital world a safe place for our children.  

Sarah Champion is MP for Rotherham.