Child safety campaigners left 'disappointed' as Ofcom's online safety code lacks measures to tackle suicide
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Child safety campaigners yesterday said they are ‘disappointed’ that Ofcom’s new online safety code lacks measures to tackle suicide and self-harm content. It comes as the regulator published a new set of rules that compel social media companies to take action against illegal and harmful content in order to comply with the Online Safety Act.
![[Ofcom chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, said the spotlight is now on tech firms and ‘it’s time for them to act’ to meet the ‘strict safety standards’ in the code]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/01/93216499-14199789-Ofcom_chief_executive_Dame_Melanie_Dawes_said_the_spotlight_is_n-a-65_1734399050850.jpg)
The rules come into effect in the Spring and Ofcom said yesterday that online platforms have three months to comply or face enforcement action and large fines. However The Molly Rose Foundation - set up in memory of teenager Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017 after being exposed to self-harm content on social media - said it was ‘astonished’ and ‘disappointed’.
![[Following the death of Molly in 2017, the Russell family and their friends set-up a charitable foundation in Molly's memory (pictured: Molly's father Ian Russell)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/01/93216497-14199789-Ian_Russell_pictured_set_up_the_Molly_Rose_Foundation_following_-a-67_1734399050858.jpg)
‘Ofcom’s task was to move fast and fix things but instead of setting an ambitious precedent these initial measures will mean preventable illegal harm can continue to flourish,’ the charity’s chief executive Andy Burrows said. He added: ‘We are astonished and disappointed there is not one single targeted measure for social media platforms to tackle suicide and self-harm material that meets the criminal threshold.
‘Robust regulation remains the best way to tackle illegal content, but it simply isn’t acceptable for the regulator to take a gradualist approach to immediate threats to life. ‘Today makes clear that there are deep structural issues with the Online Safety Act. The Government must commit to fixing and strengthening the regime without delay.’.
