Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Last month, I visited the Internet Watch Foundation. There, I saw first-hand how criminals are exploiting British children online.
It was truly harrowing. This report confirms the worst of what I saw there; a rapidly growing epidemic of online crime is putting young people’s lives at risk. Today, there are more child sexual abuse webpages online than ever, and there has been a spike in sexual imagery of teenagers. Abusers are now using AI to find new ways of creating vile images of children. At the same time, they are coercing and extorting young people into sharing intimate images of themselves. It is impossible to overstate just how devastating the impact of these heinous crimes can be. Children are left feeling ashamed, blaming themselves for the vile actions of online predators. Parents do not understand what is happening in their own homes, or they are powerless to stop it.
In the face of this crisis, Government is taking action to implement the Online Safety Act as quickly and effectively as possible. Last month, the Illegal Harms Codes of Practice came into force under the Online Safety Act. This marked the biggest change in online safety for a generation - one that will finally require services to take action to remove the illegal content on their platforms. This month, the Children’s Codes will be published, setting out the practical steps platforms should take to protect children online. From July, those Codes will be enforced. They will prevent young people from seeing harmful material that cuts their happy childhood short, from pornography that warps their perceptions of healthy relationships to content that promotes or encourages suicide, self-harm or eating disorders.
These laws will change lives for some of the most vulnerable young people in Britain. But we cannot be under any illusions about the scale of the problem we are facing. As the digital world continues to change, building a better future for our children will require vigilance and determination. That was why I became the first Secretary of State to use my power to draft a Strategic Statement of Priorities to Ofcom for Online Safety, setting out the principles that must always underpin our approach - first and foremost, that means building an online world where safety is baked in from the very start. If the evidence shows that the law isn’t providing our young people with the protection they deserve, I will not hesitate to strengthen it.
As we take on that task together, our partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation will matter more than ever. Though this report makes for difficult reading, it gives reason for hope. The Image Intercept tool promises a radical solution for combatting the spread of child sexual abuse material online. It also affirms my belief that technology can - and must - be part of the solution to the problem of online harms. I want to take this opportunity to thank the team at the Internet Watch Foundation for all they do. Protecting British children online is a difficult, sometimes devastating, job. They are doing it with empathy, ambition and dedication. The challenge we face is daunting. Together, though, we will rise to it.