Dad of tragic teen says major rule change 'should be biggest moment in online safety'

The dad of a teen who took her own life after accessing horrendous material online says new laws are "promising" - but vowed to make sure they were being enforced.

From July 25 new rules will require platforms to stop children from accessing content such as pornography, violent extremism, and promotion of self-harm and eating disorders. Ian Russell, whose 14-year-old daughter Molly tragically died in 2017, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: "This should be the biggest moment in online safety since social media was invented."

Today the head of regulator Ofcom - which will enforce the laws - said it will be down to tech chiefs to decide how to check ages. But Dame Melanie Dawes said: "There's no question of companies deciding not to put in age checks."

And Labour cabinet member Heidi Alexander hinted further legislation is likely to follow the Online Safety Act, which includes measures to keep kids safe online. Mr Russell, who has campaigned for laws to be strenghtened since Molly's death, said the charity set up in her memory - The Molly Rose Foundation - will be carrying out its own research to test the measures are stuck to.

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He said: "The Ofcom PR is often spun such that it sounds like everything will change for the better in a matter of weeks. But I think it's quite clear that Ofcom as a regulator need to do more than just spinning their PR, they need to act within the bounds of the act to the strongest possible way.

"And they're not doing that, they're sitting in the middle." Referring to the new checks he said: "It sounds promising, but in all these cases the proof is in what happens. Sadly the sort of content that Molly was looking at that led to her death is still available online and barely able to find. It's very easy to find out how easy it is to find."

Dame Melanie said: "What we're expecting to see is that any company that shows material that shouldn't be available to under-18s - pornography, suicide and self harm material, that should either be removed from their service or they're going to need highly effective age checks to screen under-18s."

She added: "We're under no illusions at Ofcom about the really quite challenging path ahead." She said: "What we've said to the industry is you decide what works for your platform, but we will be checking whether it's effective and those that don't put in those checks will hear from us with enforcement action."

She said: "What we've said to the industry is you decide what works for your platform but we'll be checking what is effective."

Cabinet member Heidi Alexander yesterday said the Government will be looking at further ways to strengthen the law. She said: "It is not the end of the coversation... We will keep under review what is required."

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.

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