Most Boys Aged 11-14 Have Been Exposed To Online Misogyny. Here's What Ofcom Hopes To Do About It

Ofcom has urged tech companies to take “practical action against online misogynistic abuse, pile-ons, stalking and intimate image abuse”. The communications regulator, which is responsible for ensuring everything from our postal service to our TV responsibly delivers safe content, has suggested that these groups need to go “above and beyond what is needed to comply with their legal duties under the Online Safety Act” to achieve true digital equality. They point out that 99% of intimate images reported to the Revenge Porn Helpline were of women; 99% of deepfake image abuse involves women; nearly 70% of boys aged 11-14 have been exposed to misogynistic content online. Those are only a few of the issues the regulator raised before announcing their “five-point plan to hold sites and apps to account on protecting women and girls online”. How will Ofcom hold tech companies to account?There are five broad steps the regulator wants to take, though they also have many, many other recommendations for individual concerns (ie Ofcom wants tech companies to use tech known as ‘hash-matching’ to “detect and remove non-consensual intimate images”). For their part, though, Ofcom says they will: Enforce services’ legal requirements under the Online Safety ActThis, Ofcom says, means they’ll use “the full extent of our powers to ensure platforms meet their duties in tackling illegal content, such as intimate image abuse or material which encourages unlawful hate and violence”.Strengthen their industryCodesThis aims to keep codes robust as laws and technology change. “We’re already consulting on measures requiring the use of hash-matching technology to detect intimate image abuse and our Codes will also be updated to reflect cyberflashing becoming a priority offence, next year,” said Ofcom.Drive change through close supervision.“We have today written an open letter to tech firms as the first step in a period of engagement to ensure they take practical action in response to our guidance,” the regulator wrote. They plan to meet tech companies soon to discuss their expectations and hope to have a roundtable by 2026.Publicly report on industry progress to reduce gender-based harmsBy 2027, Ofcom hopes to report on what both individual companies and the tech industry have achieved. “If their action falls short, we will consider making formal recommendations to [the] Government on where the Online Safety Act may need to be strengthened,” they wrote.Champion lived experienceOfcom says they hope to keep the lived experience of people who have lived through online abuse and violence, as well as the expert organisations that support them. “We will continue listen to their experiences and needs through our ongoing research and engagement programme,” Ofcom said. Why is this campaign happening? Aside from some of the stats Ofcom published about the experience of women online, 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.” She added, “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.”Related...From Trolls In My Inbox To 'Good Guys' On Dates, Misogyny Is Alive And Well'I Don't Need To Listen To You': Female Teachers Are Witnessing A Rise In Classroom MisogynyYou Need To Talk To Your Kids About Misogyny – A Therapist Explains How

Comments

Breaking news

David Lammy set to unveil major reforms to UK justice system this week

Independent

Comments

Breaking news

David Lammy set to unveil major reforms to UK justice system this week

Dozens of Palestine Action supporters arrested after fresh wave of protests

Pentagon rolls out the welcome wagon for new MAGA-friendly press corps

Cheating in lightning chess - how unproven allegations ended in tragedy

David Lammy says Labour inherited 'courts emergency' amid plans to axe most jury trials

New trial allows HIV testing kits delivered to your door with results on phone

Gemma Collins 'confirms she is staying in Essex with plans to buy new home after £1.8M payday' despite stalker hell and rumoured Dubai move

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Honesty in politics will count for nothing if Reeves does not quit

Crime boss 'living the high life' after returning to UK fights second deportation on human rights grounds

Reeves will be lucky if the only punishment for this shameful deceit is the loss of her job: DAN HODGES

Now Angela Rayner faces new storm over tax on her grace and favour apartment

EastEnders legend Shaun Williamson reveals heartbreaking reason behind his epic soap return

Exposed: the Dubai-based fat cats making millions from asylum-seekers' taxis

Linda Robson shares update on best friend and Birds Of A Feather co-star Pauline Quirke amid dementia battle

Neighbours star Holly Valance snapped lounging on a steam train with hard-Right thug Tommy Robinson... as friends of the pop star say she has gone down a 'rabbit hole'

Alex Scott jokes she's too boring for I'm A Celebrity after Lioness is first kicked out of the jungle

Andrew told Epstein victim: I know he's been 'inappropriate' with another woman... a YEAR before ex-prince met his accuser Virginia Giuffre, lawyers for abused actress claim

RIP Sir Tom Stoppard: The woman-loving wordsmith who fled Hitler to become the greatest (and wittiest) playwright of his generation

Freddy Brazier's pregnant ex Holly Swinburn breaks silence on their split as she claims star had 'drug parties with girls in her house'

Catastrophic south-east Asia flooding leaves at least 600 dead with tens of thousands displaced as villages are submerged

Ellie Goulding strolls in west London wearing padded £2,950 Miu Miu jacket... but is it to hide some 'good news' for her and boyfriend Beau Minniear?

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi backtrack on plan to stay in UK while Trump is in power as couple plot return to sunny California to escape chilly Cotswold winter

TALK OF THE TOWN: V&A is just not ready for Freddie as it turns down Queen frontman's fashion collection

Corbyn's Your Party in chaos after co-founder Zarah Sultana snubs her own conference

Thousands of men with prostate cancer risk life-changing side effects because they aren't offered type of therapy received by David Cameron

The five things that set the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season apart

Is tracking your adult children OK or should parents learn to let go?

They have six packs - but they're still jumping on and off weight-loss jabs

A simple test could have given our son a very different future

The Papers: 'Reeves must go' and Tom Stoppard tributes

It's time to lock in and let your winter arc begin

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine

Syria Tiptoes Toward Transitional Justice One Year After Assad’s Ouster

First picture of ‘genuine and funny’ man, 25, who died after falling from tower block

Lotto jackpot rolls over to £8,600,000 after no one claims prize

MP Ayoub Khan ‘killed a dog with his hands to save a baby’

Prince William ‘moved by courage’ of Gazan children brought to UK for treatment

Arrests made in New York after protesters appear to foil ICE raid with barricade of bodies and garbage bags

Thanksgiving home invasion leaves dog dead and widow without wedding ring and mortgage payment

Female cop banned from force after making 'unwanted sexual approach' to senior officer

Ukrainian officials head to US for peace talks - while dramatic footage shows Russian oil tanker being hit

Woman jailed for having sex outside busy shopping centre in broad daylight

Councils given record funding to fix potholes - but could lose it if they don't

Man accused of shooting Glasgow gangsters dead at Spanish bar pictured

'Severe allergic reaction made me lose my memory - I couldn't recognise myself'

Mum and dad screamed 'help us' as son 'beat them, set fire to home then escaped'

Rapist Met cop David Carrick's downfall - from 'popular' boy to serial sex offender

'Black hole' row: Call for Financial Conduct Authority investigation

Reeves must go for her Budget lies, say voters: Poll delivers damning verdict on Chancellor as No 10 admits that PM also knew there was no 'black hole'

I'm A Celebrity's Alex Scott reveals she is leaving Australia early to be with her girlfriend Jess Glynne

I'm A Celeb viewers brand Vogue Williams 'Superwoman' as gym loving model 'smashes' brutal 'Total Wipeout style' trial

Extraordinary moment explosion sends concrete blocks and chemical tank flying through the air near homes in Sydney's west - with factory fire set to burn ALL DAY

Vanessa Hudgens gives birth! High School Musical star welcomes second child with Cole Tucker

Greta Thunberg launches foul-mouthed tirade at 'fascist' Italian government during pro-Palestine protest in Rome - days after climate activist was banned from Venice

Was Charles' secret Cotswolds meeting with King of Bahrain a summit on his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's future?

Paige, 27, was told she was going to die from terminal brain cancer. Months later, doctors looked at her scans in pure disbelief

Russian drone and missile blitz on Ukraine's energy infrastructure leaves more than 600,000 in Kyiv without power

German hard-right party sets up new youth wing as thousands of furious protesters descend on town

Romeo Beckham showcases his toned and tattooed physique as he goes shirtless for mirror selfie

Norris 'will try everything' to win title in Qatar