Shannon Welcomes The Online Safety Act

The Online Safety Act passed at Westminster says Jim Shannon MP

Strangford MP Jim Shannon was speaking recently in Parliament on the Online Safety Act during a reading of the Bill

Jim Shannon said: “The Online Safety Act is a piece of legislation that regulates the duty of care of providers of online services e.g. social media, particularly in relation to children’s safety online.

“The Bill has been passed and it is now an Act, however, further discussion is taking place as to how the Act is to be implemented throughout the UK.

“It was a pleasure to attend Parliament and speak in the debate on the online safety act.

“This is such an important issue, for parents and grandparents, like me, who just want to protect children from the dangers of being online.

“I am pleased this act aims to address some of the major dangers that can occur online, but there is more work to be done to achieve full online safety.

“Furthermore, I spoke on how great it is to hear of the Education Minister’s plans to investigate a pilot scheme for pouches that children put their phones into while in school, to discourage the use of social media and phone use whilst at school.

‘This is a big step by Minister Paul Givan.

“It is great to see Northern Ireland move forward in doing more to look after young people in our schools and I congratulate the Education Minister for doing that. 

“I often feel we have one job to do as a parent: to protect our children and their future.

“This legislation will hopefully play a part in helping parents to protect the most treasured part of their life, and I will always support that.”

The Act had a long run in getting through Parliament with considerable input from the Lords and the Commons. It has incveased the level of protection, but Ofcom, the regulator, must now run risk assessments on the different platforms and produce codes of practice.

This highlights the importance of the need for scutiny of the social media platforms by the legislators to ensure young people are safe and ensuring that Ofcom is fulfilling its vital role.