Ofcom: Online safety watchdog launches new industry guidance demanding tech firms deliver online safety for women and girls

Online safety watchdog, Ofcom, has launched new industry guidance demanding tech firms deliver a safer online experience for women and girls in the UK.

A new five-point plan will help drive change and ensure tech firms are held accountable. This includes ensuring compliance with their legal duties under the Online Safety Act, strengthening industry Codes, meeting with firms for close supervision, publicly reporting on progress, and highlighting lived experience.

Firms will also consider introducing prompts asking users to reconsider before posting harmful content, imposing timeouts for those who repeatedly attempt to abuse or target victims, and demonetising posts which promote misogynistic abuse and sexual violence.

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The guidance was developed with insights from victims, survivors, safety experts, women's advocacy groups and organisations working with men and boys.

Research found female footballers were 29 per cent more likely to be targeted by online abuse than their male counterparts during recent World Cups.

Nearly 70 per cent of boys aged 11-14 have been exposed to online content that promotes misogyny and other harmful views, and 73 per cent of Gen Z social media users have witnessed misogynistic content online.

The Revenge Porn Helpline found 98 per cent of intimate images reported were of women, and 99 per cent of deep fake intimate image abuse depicted women.

Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive, said: "When I listen to women and girls who've experienced online abuse, their stories are deeply shocking. Survivors describe how a single image shared without their consent shattered their sense of self and safety. Journalists, politicians and athletes face relentless trolling while simply doing their jobs.

"No woman should have to think twice before expressing herself online, or worry about an abuser tracking her location.

"That's why today we are sending a clear message to tech firms to step up and act in line with our practical industry guidance, to protect their female users against the very real online risks they face today.

"With the continued support of campaigners, advocacy groups and expert partners, we will hold companies to account and set a new standard for women's and girls' online safety in the UK."

Women in Football CEO Yvonne Harrison and her counterpart at Women in Sport, chief executive Stephanie Hilborne OBE, welcomed the new industry guidance, demanding that tech firms step up to deliver a safer online experience for millions of women and girls in the UK.

Harrison said in a joint-statement released on Monday: "The rise of online abuse of elite sportswomen is sadly not a new phenomenon, but as our survey highlighted, such experiences are now a daily reality for women employed across the industry. 76 per cent of female respondents told us that the levels of discrimination they have witnessed online have increased or stayed the same, and this number increases to 81 per cent for women from under-represented ethnic origins.

"The recent decision by Liverpool Crown Court to pass a guilty verdict for six counts of sending grossly offensive social media posts to two female sports broadcasters was very welcome. We sadly know that very few perpetrators of such harmful behaviour -that is devastatingly debilitating to its victims - are held to any kind of account.

Hilborne added: "The real-world consequences of unchecked misogyny in sport can be catastrophic. Following the 2023 Women's Football World Cup kiss scandal, 72 per cent of girls told us that the incident had 'opened their eyes to the way some women are treated in sport'.

"We know that misogyny affects women and girls throughout their lives, not just those in the public eye. Everyday sexism, online pile-ons, demeaning comments about girls' bodies and the targeting of women working in sport all contribute to a culture that pushes girls out before they've even had a chance to thrive."

Sport England and WSL Football have also welcomed the guidance, calling for better protection for sportswomen on social media.

Chris Boardman, chair of Sport England, added: "Toxic online abuse has terrible offline impacts. As women's sport grows, so does the abuse of its stars, and that affects women from every walk of life.

"This Girl Can research shows us that for many women and girls, fear of judgment is a huge deterrent to them exercising - and the horrifying abuse of our athletes makes this worse.

"The hard-won gains in women's sport must not be destroyed by misogyny, so we're supporting Ofcom in order to protect women & girls' participation."

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