- Government tells tech companies to go further and faster in
implementing safety measures to protect women and girls
online
- Warning comes after government takes decisive action to
tackle online violence and Ofcom issues practical guidance to
tech firms
- Tech Secretary encourages Ofcom to report on which
companies are failing to act soon as possible, to inform
women and girls which platforms decide not to protect them
Major technology companies must use every tool at their disposal
to protect women and girls from abuse and misogyny online – or
face further action from government, the Tech Secretary warns.
Holding a roundtable, on Monday 9 March, with leading
companies including Snapchat, Meta, YouTube and TikTok, the
Secretary of State urged platforms to go further and faster in
implementing safety measures.
The warning follows a series of robust interventions the
government has taken to meet its commitment to halve violence
against women and girls within the next decade. Over the past 6
months alone, the government has made intimate image abuse,
cyberflashing and choking priority offences under
the Online Safety
Act – treating this material with the same seriousness
as child abuse or terrorism and placing legal duties on platforms
to stop this content before it reaches users.
In January, the Prime Minister called out Grok for the
despicable, illegal sexualised images of women and girls that
were being spread on its site, and the government then acted
within days to fast-track legislation to ban the creation of
non‑consensual intimate deepfakes.
And new legal requirements introduced by the government mean tech
firms must now remove intimate images shared without consent
within 48 hours of being flagged, shifting the burden from
victims to platforms. This month, an amendment to
the Crime and Policing
Bill also created a new offence criminalising so‑called
“nudification apps”, AI tools that generate synthetic sexualised
images of women and girls.
Having taken these decisive steps, the government is now clear
that tech companies must match that level of action. Three months
ago, Ofcom set out important measures that companies can take to
reduce online misogynistic abuse, harassment, stalking and
image‑based sexual abuse – including prompts to reconsider
harmful posts, limits on pile‑ons, stronger privacy defaults and
hash‑matching for intimate images.
The regulator is expected to report on what platforms
are failing to comply and the government
is encouraging Ofcom to do so as soon as
possible, enabling women and girls – and the wider public – to
make informed decisions about where they spend their time
online.
Tech Secretary said:
Every woman and girl deserves to be safe online and we will stop
at nothing to ensure the digital world is working for them, not
against them.
This government has taken tough action to tackle intimate image
abuse, deepfakes and the online harms women and girls face every
day.
Now, tech companies must go above and beyond to use the tools
readily available to them to make their platforms safer. If they
don't, these companies are not innocent bystanders – they are
enabling abuse to thrive.
That is why we are asking Ofcom to report swiftly on how
companies are complying, because better safety and better
accountability go hand in hand.
Later this week, Technology Secretary will also convene the Women in Tech Taskforce, which
is focused on ensuring women are at the table in shaping the
technologies of the future – tackling bias in tech design and
helping build online spaces that prevent harm to women and girls
from the outset.
Last week, the government also launched a public consultation,
calling on parents, guardians, and young people across the
UK to shape the country's
next steps on children's digital
wellbeing.
The consultation will gather insights from the public on how to
keep children safe online across social
media, AI chatbots and gaming platforms, and the
government will respond in the Summer.
