Online safety laws must constantly adapt along with tech, says minister following criticism from Molly Russell's father
12 January 2025, 12:08
Online safety laws must constantly adapt along with technology, a minister has said, following criticism from Molly Russell's father.
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Speaking to LBC's Lewis Goodall, Science Secretary Peter Kyle admitted that Parliament needed to get more used to regularly updating legislation based on the speed of developments with technology.
"Tech is emerging so fast," he said. "The products and services offered by tech companies and social media companies...
"If you take deepfakes, for example, in three months it was designed, deployed and made its way into our society and then suddenly we discovered some of the negative aspects of it.
"It's why I'm passing a new law in the coming months that will tackle where deepfakes are used in a harmful manner."
Read more: UK is going ‘backwards’ on online safety, Molly Russell’s father tells Keir Starmer
He went on to say: "I promised victims of social media harm when I was in opposition that I would be the first Secretary of State to issue a statement of strategic intent to Ofcom to open up the protections that we have."
Mr Kyle said the move was intended "to make sure that they know that I expect them to use their powers assertively and in the interest of keeping people safe online".
"I have already done so in cooperation with the victims, so I am adapting as we move forward," he continued.
"There is nothing in anything I've done or said that should give anybody the impression that anything will weaken the safety that people have and the safety regime that people have in their online activity."
Lewis Goodall is joined by Technology Secretary Peter Kyle | Watch in full
It comes after the father of a teenage girl who killed herself after looking at harmful social media content told Keir Starmer he believed the UK is "going backwards" on online safety.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ian Russell, chairman of the Molly Rose Foundation (MRF), said the implementation of the Online Safety Act by Ofcom was a "disaster".
He warned that without legislative changes, “the streams of life-sucking content seen by children will soon become torrents: a digital disaster”.
The Online Safety Act was passed in 2023 as the UK's first major legislation to regulate social media, search engine, messaging, gaming, dating, pornography and file-sharing platforms.
It means Ofcom is able to fine firms that do not meet these duties, potentially up to billions of pounds for the largest sites.
In the most serious instances, Ofcom can seek clearance to stop access to a site in the UK.
In December, the regulator published the first set of online safety rules, which legally required platforms to consider the risk of illegal content - like hate, fraud, terrorism and child abuse - and put safety measures in place by March or face enforcement action.
Yet Mr Russell said Ofcom's choices “starkly highlighted intrinsic structural weaknesses with the legislative framework”, and that the regulator “has fundamentally failed to grasp the urgency and scale of its mission”.
However, Mr Kyle said he believed the Online Safety Act was a "huge step forward".
He said it had become challenging as Kemi Badenoch had claimed it was "legislating for hurt feelings" while going through Parliament.
"On the back of that, entire swathes of it were removed from the legislation before it made its way through Parliament, that did mean we had a lopsided set of legislation," he explained.
The minister said the government had found ways to tackle certain areas but "it's been made more difficult by the culture wars that erupted in the Tory party".
It comes after Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, said it was scrapping its longstanding fact-checking programme and replacing it with a community notes system.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said this would focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying policies and restoring free expression on platforms, but would mean catching “less bad stuff”.
Mr Russell said the move was “a profound strategic shift away from fundamental safety measures towards a laissez-faire, anything goes model”, creating a “bonfire of digital ethics and online safety features” in which children “lose the most”.
A Meta spokesperson said: “There is no change to how we treat content that encourages suicide, self-injury, and eating disorders.
"We will continue to use our automated systems to scan for that high-severity content.
"We want young people to have safe and age-appropriate experiences on our apps – this has not changed.”
Mr Russell urged Starmer to reform the Online Safety Act with a focus on stronger regulations, a duty of care for tech companies and ensuring victim-centred policies were at the centre.
The letter ended: “Too many parents have lost hope that governments will deliver the online safety reform they urgently need.
"Among bereaved families, there is widespread dismay that successive governments have chosen to dither and delay when the consequences of inaction has been further lost lives.
"As Prime Minister and as a father, I implore you to act.
"You now have a profound opportunity, but also a great responsibility, to act clearly and decisively and to show millions of parents across this country that meaningful change is on the way.
“It is time to decisively protect children and young adults from the perils of our online world.”
The MRF was set up by Mr Russell and his family in memory of his daughter, who took her own life aged 14 in November 2017.
A No 10 spokesperson said the Prime Minister thanked Mr Russell for the letter and acknowledged the “immense bravery” of him and other families campaigning for children’s online safety.
They added: “This Government is committed to ensuring online safety for children.
"Social media platforms must step up to their responsibilities and take robust action to protect children from seeing harmful content on their sites.”
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We recognise the profound pain caused by harmful content online, and our deepest sympathies remain with Ian Russell and all those who have suffered unimaginable loss.“
"That’s why we’re doing everything in our power to hold platforms to account and create a safer life online, and victims’ voices will continue to be at the heart of our work.”
