Protecting childhood online: Why the Online Safety Act matters

This briefing has been prepared on behalf of the Children’s Coalition for Online Safety, a collection of organisations that have worked closely together throughout the development of the Online Safety Act. 

Through our work with Ofcom and the Government, we have consistently pressed for a regulatory framework that truly delivers for children. We believe that the Act provides an essential foundation for creating a safer digital world – one that protects the future of childhood and upholds children’s rights. 

Within this briefing, we present the collective evidence gathered by our organisations, demonstrating both the scale and severity of the harms children face online, and how this first-of-its-kind legislation will help to mitigate them. Whilst the Act will not fix these issues in full – and further action is needed to address harm at its source, particularly risky and harmful design practices – it represents a vital first step. 

We therefore urge MPs to speak in support of the Act’s implementation and to champion the continued progress needed to keep children safe online.

This briefing is supported by:

5Rights Foundation, NSPCC, Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), Ditch the Label,
Online Safety Act Network, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), Childnet, Children’s Media
Foundation, Clean Up The Internet, UK Safer Internet Centre, SWGfL, WAVE Trust, Marie
Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation and Internet Matters.