Dozens Of Organisations Urge Burnham To Strengthen Online Safety Laws
Andy Burnham is widely expected to become the next prime minister within a matter of weeks (Alamy)
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Exclusive: A coalition of charities, campaign groups, researchers and academics has urged Andy Burnham to strengthen online safety laws if, as expected, he enters No 10.
A statement coordinated by the Online Safety Network, published on Wednesday, calls on Burnham to step up the government's response to online harms, including through new legislation that would be regularly updated to keep pace with evolving technology.
The Digital Media, Data and Communications Bill, which was previously proposed by Burnham ally Lucy Powell when she was shadow digital secretary, would be scrutinised and monitored by a standing Committee of both Houses to ensure it can tackle online harms.
In the statement, seen by PoliticsHome, 47 organisations, including the NSPCC, Molly Rose Foundation, Full Fact, Internet Watch Foundation, Hope not Hate, the Fawcett Society and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, argued that the government's approach to online safety has been "fragmented and slow" and that Ofcom's enforcement has lacked urgency.
“The new prime minister now has an opportunity to reset the narrative, refocus the government and the regulator and show leadership internationally by taking back control from the global businesses whose pursuit of profit runs counter to the achievement of a good digital life for British citizens,” the statement said.
“The UK urgently needs a much more comprehensive and adaptive approach to online safety and AI regulation that tackles the profit-driven business model, resets the parameters for doing business in the UK, addresses the role of online advertising in fuelling content-based harms, and secures the integrity of our information environment and democracy.
“None of this is a bar to growth and innovation: good, outcome-focused regulation sets the foundation for both.”
They called on Burnham, who is expected to become PM later this month following the resignation of Keir Starmer, to “restore faith in politics” and adopt the Online Safety Network’s safety by design code of practice.
The statement comes after the government has committed to banning children under the age of 16 from accessing certain major social media platforms, following controversy around Grok AI producing sexualised images of children and women earlier this year.
Backbench Labour MP Jess Asato is taking legal action against xAI in the UK after Grok created sexually explicit non-consensual images of her, telling PoliticsHome that she wants the government to create a legal definition of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls to provide stronger protections against AI-generated abuse.
The signatories of the statement also criticised the move to ban under-16s from social media rather than “bolder moves to address the unsafe intentional design of those products that are the root cause of harms”. They argued that AI chatbots and social media platforms should face stronger accountability for harm caused by their products, and accused the government of having “kicked into the long grass” any regulations to allow researchers access to social media data.
Maeve Walsh, director of the Online Safety Act Network, said: "The arrival of a new PM is an opportunity for a reset of online safety policy and wider tech regulation. Civil society experts and campaigners stand ready to work with Andy Burnham to ensure his government delivers a more coherent, ambitious approach."
Andy Burrows, Chief Executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said: “The new prime minister will inherit a patchwork of online safety measures, including a flawed ban on certain social media platforms, but this represents an opportunity to be bolder and more ambitious.
"By delivering comprehensive safety by design measures, Andy Burnham can show he is committed to standing up for UK families with solutions that work, moving beyond performative action that will not deliver comprehensive safety for young people.
“Parents are understandably crying out for change but want change that works. A Burnham Government must commit to holding big tech to account with evidence-based measures that finally make safety and wellbeing the price to pay for doing business in the UK.”
The signatories of the statement include:
- Online Safety Act Network
- FlippGen
- Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, University of Cambridge
- Gender + Tech Research Lab, University College London (UCL), Department of Computer Science
- End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW)
- Elect Her
- Antisemitism Policy Trust
- Centre for Protecting Women Online
- Full Fact
- NSPCC
- Molly Rose Foundation
- Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD)
- The Digital Gender Harms Research Unit (DiGHRU), University of Portsmouth
- The Coalition to End Gambling Ads
- Check My Ads
- 5Rights Foundation
- Equality Now
- Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi)
- Chayn
- Internet Watch Foundation
- Womankind Worldwide
- Adele Zeynep Walton
- Clean Up The Internet
- My Image My Choice
- Thomas William Parfett Foundation
- Fawcett Society
- Shout Out UK
- Kick It Out
- Plan International UK
- Conscious Advertising Network
- The Jo Cox Foundation
- Dr. Elinor Carmi, City St. George’s, University of London
- Samaritans
- HOPE not hate
- Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH)
- Professor Emma Short, London Metropolitan University
- Welsh Women’s Aid
- #NotYourPorn
- SWGfL
- Internet Matters
- Demos
- Reset Tech
- Professor Lorna Woods OBE, Emeritus Professor, Essex University
- Save the Children UK
- Centenary Action
- Professor Clare McGlynn, Durham University
- Mental Health Foundation
