Online Safety Act ‘missing vital opportunity’ on suicide content Dangerous suicide and self-harm content will remain online despite the introduction of the Online Safety Act because of “big gaps around high risk content”, Samaritans has said.
Jacqui Morrissey told the PA news agency that Ofcom has advised the Government to use site user numbers as the criteria for subjecting platforms to the strictest measures of the Act – which would require them to hide or remove such content even for users aged over 18 – but said that this approach would leave a number of “small, but very high risk platforms” not subjected to these toughest rules.
“The Online Safety Act includes really important provisions within it that enables government to subject small but very high risk platforms to the strictest measures,” Ms Morrissey told PA. “We are extremely disappointed that Ofcom have chosen to ignore our advice and the advice of many organisations in making the criteria for the strictest measures focused on the number of users.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “From next month, all platforms in scope of the Online Safety Act – including small but risky services – will have to start taking action to protect people of all ages from illegal content, including illegal suicide and self-harm material.
“So we’re missing this really vital opportunity – Government and Ofcom have both said they recognise the concerns around small but very high risk services and they’ve said the decision on which services have to meet these highest measures needs to be based on evidence.
