Internet-safety-boys

Internet Safety: Britain the Safest Place in the World to be Online

The UK government is cracking down on Internet safety, Britain hopes to become the safest place in the world to be online!

So how has this come about we hear you ask?

Well it’s all due to new proposals announced today by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley.

Internet safety strategy explained

The Government’s Internet Safety Strategy proposes to target online dangers like cyber-bullying, trolling and under-age access to pornographic material through:

  • A new social media code of practice – addressing bullying, intimidating or humiliating online content.
  • An industry-wide tax – companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google will contribute to raise awareness and counter Internet harms.​
  • An annual Internet safety transparency report – showing progress on addressing abusive and harmful content and behaviour.
  • Support for tech/digital startups to focus on safety first – ensuring necessary safety features are built into apps and products from the beginning.
  • New compulsory school subjects – Relationship Education at primary and Relationship & Sex Education at secondary to provide Internet safety education.
  • Social media safety advice – government will encourage social media companies to offer safety advice and tools to parents.

What’s the aim of all this?

Internet-safety-girl

In the past year, nearly one fifth of 12-15 year olds came across something online that they ‘found worrying or nasty in some way.’

Nearly half of adult users also say they have seen something that has upset or offended them on social media. It goes without saying that something needs to be done here.

It’s not all bad though and the Internet Safety Green Paper aims to tackle the growing dangers, as well as embrace the benefits and opportunities the Internet brings.

The strategy sets out the government’s ambition to create a strong framework which can tackle online harms.

The government also aims to highlight the crucial role that education will play in raising online safety awareness, with a particular focus on children and parents.

Over to you!

Do you think enough is being done? Let us know with a quick tweet or message – we’d love to hear from you!

The Boomerang Team.