A children’s charity has criticised the UK government for failing to implement proposals to make young people safer online – 10 years after they were made in a government-commissioned report.
The NSPCC says 11 of the 38 proposals were ignored and seven were partially implemented – four are now out of date.
It says a mandatory code to regulate social media and tackle online grooming is now required.
Ministers say they are working to make the UK the safest place to be online.
The recommendations were made following the 2008 “Safer Children in a Digital World” review which was commissioned by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown and led by clinical psychologist Prof Tanya Byron.
The Home Office has begun the process of creating a voluntary code to regulate websites, as part of its Internet Safety Strategy.
However, the NSPCC said this move was recommended in 2008 and it was now “too little, too late”.
Instead, it wants the code to be mandatory, backed up by an independent regulator with fining powers.
Features would include safe accounts for under-18s, extra protections like grooming alerts, and child endangerment reports to be published by social networks.
– BBC News
Read more: NSPCC Calls for Immediate Action on Children’s Online Safety
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