Online Safety Act Network

Responses

Response to the Draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for Online Safety

The Secretary of State’s Draft Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for Online Safety was published in November 2024. Our response, a version of which was submitted to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in December 2024, is available as a PDF below and reflects some of the themes and concerns that have emerged in discussions facilitated by the Network since the publication of the SSP. We do not speak on behalf of the organisations we work with but we are grateful to the following organisations for their contributions and support for this response:

Response from VAWG sector to Ofcom's children's consultation

Response to Ofcom’ s Online Safety Act protection of children’s consultation from: NSPCC, Refuge, End Violence Against Women Coalition, 5 Rights Foundation, Centre for Protecting Women Online, Glitch, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Safe Lives, UCL Gender and Tech Research Unit, Prof Lorna Woods (University of Essex), Prof Clare McGlynn (University of Durham) and the Online Safety Act Network.

Response to Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into non-consensual intimate image abuse

Executive Summary 1. Ofcom’s powers were not designed to provide individuals with redress. Their powers are inadequate to respond to the need for thousands of images, across many websites to be removed. Any orders made would relate to the service overall not individual items of content and would come at the end of a lengthy enforcement process and are designed to be exceptional. 2. Suggestions to add intimate image abuse offences to the priority offences in the Online safety Act therefore will not solve the problem of failing to get specific material removed from the internet.