Scots mum whose daughter killed herself backs tougher social media regulations
dailyrecord.co.ukAn Edinburgh nurse whose daughter killed herself after viewing harmful online content has backed calls for tougher social media regulation.
Ruth Moss is campaigning with the NSPCC for new legislation which would hold tech bosses to account. Her daughter Sophie Parkinson died at her home in Angus in 2014, aged 13.
She had viewed suicidal and self-harm posts on social media.She was also subjected to grooming on social media platforms. The UK Government’s Online Safety Bill, which has been delayed at Westminster, proposes making social media bosses liable for failing to give information to the sector’s proposed new regulator Ofcom.Ministers have said it remains the intention to pass the Bill during this parliamentary session.
But campaigners say it needs to go further, urging liability for decisions that result in preventable harm or sexual abuse.Ms Moss said making tech giants liable for the content on their sites will force them to make the internet safer for children and teenagers.She said: “As far as I’m concerned, where companies wilfully break the law and put the lives of children like my daughter at risk, of course senior managers should be criminally accountable.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk
