MNHQ here: Write to your MP to ask them to strengthen the Online Safety Bill and protect children from porn

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Hi there,

We know that many of you are concerned about the damaging effects of porn on children and the ease with which they can access it online - whether deliberately or by stumbling across it accidentally.  A recent report by the Children’s Commissioner found that the average age at which children first see online pornography is 13. 79% of children had encountered violent pornography before the age of 18. 

The Online Safety Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, contains measures which will require tech companies to use ‘age assurance’ to ensure that those viewing pornography are over 18 - but this phrasing could include protections as weak as simply ticking a box.  The Bill also treats pornography on ‘user-to-user’ sites (such as social media) differently, and less robustly than dedicated porn sites - which is particularly concerning as the most common place children access porn is on Twitter.  

A group of Peers in the House of Lords are trying to strengthen the provisions in the Bill to stop children accessing porn by amending the legislation to ensure that adult sites and user-to-user services will be behind the strictest bar of age verification and that any adult site hosting pornography will have to have the highest assurance “beyond a reasonable doubt” that their users are over 18.  But unless the government accepts the amendments in the House of Lords, they will not pass into law.    

We want to make sure that MPs and the government understand the strength of feeling amongst parents on this issue.  If you agree that the Bill should contain stricter provisions to stop children from accessing porn online, please write to your MP to encourage them to back these amendments and lobby the government to accept them.  You can find contact details for your MP here, and we’ve provided a template email below (but if you have the time please consider personalising your message as we know that can make it more effective).  Once you’ve written to your MP, please do respond to the thread and let us know!

Thanks,
MNHQ

TEMPLATE EMAIL

Dear [YOUR MP’s NAME]

I’m emailing as your constituent to ask you to urge the government to accept amendments to the Online Safety Bill that will help protect children from accessing pornography online.

A recent report by the Children’s Commissioner found that the average age at which children first see online pornography is 13. 79% of children had encountered violent pornography before the age of 18.  But as it stands, measures in the Online Safety Bill are not strong enough to effectively prevent children from accessing porn.

The Bill contains measures which will require tech companies to use ‘age assurance’ to ensure that those viewing pornography are over 18 - but this phrasing could include protections as weak as simply ticking a box. Instead, what is required is age verification, which means being required to prove beyond doubt that a user is 18.   The Bill also treats pornography on ‘user-to-user’ sites (such as social media) differently, and less robustly than dedicated porn sites - which is particularly concerning as the most common place children access porn is on Twitter.  

I’m asking you to support the amendments to the Bill tabled by Lord Bethell to ensure that porn on adult sites and user-to-user services will be behind the strictest bar of age verification and that any adult site hosting pornography will have to have the highest assurance “beyond a reasonable doubt” that their users are over 18.  Please urge the government to accept these amendments and protect children from the effects of pornography.

Yours Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

[GlacindaTheTroll]

Have you actually looked back through the times MNHQ have proposed this before?

And seen the brilliant posts from the tech-savvy MNetters explaining why this is a wholly useless measure? Especially the brilliant "unicorn" post from Empusa?

It would be much better if MN put its energies in to ensuring parents know how to keep their DC as safe as possible, using the existing tools available. Rather than backing this, which does nothing - porn isn't tidily labelled online, and having a few sites using age verification will provide no protection over that offered by using device-based filters, but might lead parents to think - entirely wrongly - that this does offer worthwhile protection and mislead them into overlooking the more effective streps they should be taking.

[CherryReds]

Have written to my MP. Thanks for raising MN.

[LangClegsInSpace]

Spoken as if we were not all treated to thread titles in active about fisting and fleshlights only a couple of months ago.

Sort your own house out, Mumsnet. The ongoing problems with the sex topic are not yet fixed.

I will be writing to my MP but I won't be using any wording that could associate me with this site. I would be too embarrassed.

[ThisOldThang]

This bill has a requirement for companies to prevent content being shared. It will require companies such as Google, Apple, WhatsApp, Signal, etc, to analyse any images prior to sending. Any that aren't easy to analyse will be sent for human viewing/moderation.

Do you want the government to have that much power and are you happy to accept zero privacy with your personal images being sent off for checks? What happens if somebody hacks that data and gets access to your intimate images? What if the staff share all the juicy images they receive?

It's a ridiculous piece of legislation.

[horridjobescapee]

How does this sit with the sex topic on mumsnet being so chock full of links to hook up sites and having been used to share links to porn?

[horridjobescapee]

You can't even stop children accessing porn on this website. You have no checks in place. No age verification.