In 2021, online abuse and violence against women and girls experts launched a campaign urging the government to include women and girls in new online safety law. Whilst the online safety bill gives media companies a duty of care to their users, the bill fails to protect women and girls who are disproportionately affected by online abuse.
Studies show that women are 27 times more likely than men to be harassed online, 1 in 5 women experience online harassment or abuse, and black women are 84% more likely to receive abusive tweets than white women. Furthermore, online abuse against women went up by 46% during the pandemic, and it was even higher for Black women and non-binary people at 50%.
The amendment to the bill has been put forward this week in the House of Lords by Baroness Nicky Morgan who believes “the intention is to get the platforms to think about how to keep female users safe. They are not thinking about the safety of female users at the moment.” The proposed change would require Ofcom, to issue a code of practise on preventing online violence against women that social media platforms would have to follow.
Under the amendments, legalisation would require social media platforms and tech companies to tackle illegal content such as revenge pornography and behaviours such as cyberstalking. It also contains provisions that would require the biggest platforms to give users the option of opting out from misogynistic content. If a platform’s terms of service ban misogynistic abuse, then they will be expected to enforce those conditions or face action from Ofcom. Breaches of terms will carry a potential fine of 10% of the companies global turnover.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said “We are committed to tackling online abuse and violence against women and girls. In the Online Safety Bill, we have made it a priority for platforms to proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content which disproportionately targets women and girls. Women will also benefit from new tools that give them greater control over what they see on social media, including content that is abusive or incites hatred on the basis of sex.”
