Inquiry calls for social media companies to reveal anti-bullying response
Tristan Donovan
Monday, February 26, 2018
Social media companies should be made to publish data on how well they are dealing with online bullying, according to an inquiry.
The call is one of several recommendations aimed at making the web safer for children and young people that have been made by an inquiry led by Conservative MP Alex Chalk alongside The Children's Society and YoungMinds charities.
The inquiry found that 47 per cent of young people had been threatened, intimidated or sent nasty comments via social media, text message or email. The report also said that the young people who are the heaviest users of social media are the most likely to have low wellbeing, have lower empathy and experience symptoms of anxiety or depression.
"Cyberbullying can devastate young lives, but to date the response from social media companies has been tokenistic and inadequate," said Chalk.
He added that social media companies have "failed to grip the true scale of the problem" and "for too long they have been marking their own homework and it's time they become far more transparent, robust and accountable".
The inquiry's Safety Net report called on the government to force social media companies to issue annual data that revealed how effective they are at handling complaints about online bullying from children and young people. It also advised ministers to create an ombudsman that people could turn to when social media businesses fail to address online harassment and for online safety lessons to be made part of the school curriculum.
Sarah Brennan, chief executive of YoungMinds, said: "With so much of young people's everyday lives involving the online world, it's crucial that it is a place that young people can feel safe and enjoy being part of. This inquiry has shown loud and clear that it's time social media companies sit up and take action to tackle cyberbullying and promote good mental health on their platforms."
The inquiry also said social media businesses need to improve their own policies. It said social media companies should be clearer with young people about how they should behave online, respond to reports of bullying within 24 hours and take a tougher stance against those who breach their guidelines.
"Social media is part and parcel of teenage life and we all need to support young people to stay safe online, including better education in schools and information for parents," said Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children's Society charity.
The inquiry's recommendations echo much of what the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport proposed in its Internet Safety green paper last October.
Proposals in the green paper also included introducing a code of practice for social media companies, imposing a levy on social media firms to pay for efforts to prevent online bullying and using peer-to-peer support to help children and young people help each other be safe online.
Last month Anne Longfield, the children's commissioner for England, also called for schools to do more to prepare children for the emotional pressures they face on social media.
The Safety Net inquiry's findings were based on evidence gathered from mental health experts, children's charities, social media companies and an online survey of 1,089 young people aged 11 to 25.
