Actor Natalie Dormer joined young people, bereaved families, and abuse survivors to celebrate the Online Safety Act becoming law at an NSPCC reception in Parliament.
After years of campaigning, this new legislation will now put a legal duty on tech companies to protect children from sexual abuse and harmful material on social media sites, gaming apps and messaging services.
Game of Thrones star and NSPCC’s Ambassador for Childline Natalie exclusively told HELLO!: “One of the key points of the act is that parents and children have easy access to remove harmful, disturbing and damaging content that they are exposed to or have been victimised by, and to give that the greatest accessibility and ease for your parent readership is pivotally the most important thing.”
She added: “If friends and family are worried or concerned, they should call the NSPCC helpline – it is there for a reason to advise adults who are worried about children. I'm the ambassador for Childline, [which] the kids can call and contact, but I feel like more adults should be aware that the NSPCC is there for them as an online source. It's a fantastic website.
"It's almost like people aren't aware that the NSPCC website is so textured, far-reaching, informative, educational and emotionally supportive and that is the message to get to your readers.”
The NSPCC reception was chaired by Sajid Javid MP, who was Home Secretary in 2018 when regulation to help protect children online was first promised by the Government.
Young people who campaigned with the NSPCC spoke at the event, along with the NSPCC’s Chief Executive Sir Peter Wanless and Ofcom Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes who will be responsible for the Act’s implementation.
HELLO! met one young person, Poppy, who is an alumnus of the NSPCC’s Young People’s Board for Change. Poppy and her colleagues spoke openly about their experiences with social media and their hopes for the new Online Safety Act. The new Young People’s Board for Change is made up of 15 young people and more information on the group’s work can be found here.
Guests also heard from a mother, Lynn*, whose daughter Emily* was sexually abused on Facebook and Snapchat when she was 13.
Lynn* has campaigned with the NSPCC for online safety laws for over five years and said: “Five years ago, I stood before many of you, and told the story of our daughter, Emily. The story of how she was groomed via social media and sexually assaulted by a 24-year-old man who had posed as a 16-year-old boy.
“I asked the Government to change the law so that social media and tech companies must take responsibility for the safety of users on their platforms, and to protect our children and vulnerable people.
“Today, I speak to you as a grandparent of a four-year-old little girl. The aunt of nieces and nephews. A mother of a child that was targeted and seriously harmed via social media. And I speak to you as someone who strongly welcomes the Online Safety Act.”
Now that the Online Safety Act has been given Royal Assent, Ofcom is preparing to set out the rules that tech companies will have to follow to tackle child sexual abuse and protect children from harmful material. The codes of practice will be consulted on before being implemented.
Following the event, the NSPCC set up an installation outside the Houses of Parliament thanking over 147,000 campaigners who backed the legislation.