Children face lifetime social media bans for sharing classmates' nudes

Telegraph

5 days ago

Schoolchildren face lifetime social media bans for sharing nude images of their classmates under online safety proposals from Ofcom.
The regulator is proposing that tech giants enforce permanent bans on users who share illegal images of underage nudity as part of plans to keep children safe.
The crackdown may extend to children who share the images among friends on group chats, meaning classroom cyber bullies could be permanently blocked from social networks.
Platforms will be required to take steps to ensure users cannot simply sign up under a new name, such as tracking their internet address or verifying their identity.
Ofcom announced on Monday that it would consult on a range of new measures to protect children online and clamp down on illegal content going viral.
It said those who 'share, generate, or upload CSEA (child sexual exploitation and abuse) content … should be banned from the service and prevented from returning'.
The watchdog said there was a 'particularly difficult issue' in deciding whether to enforce this against children, including those who are coerced into sending images of themselves and children who receive an image but then share it with friends.
Ofcom said that while it did not want to penalise children who were victims of grooming or were in consensual relationships, images being shared more widely 'can have a significant impact on victims'.
Sharing and receiving child sexual imagery is a criminal offence but children are typically not prosecuted for it when they are the victim or if it is considered non-abusive.
More than half of 13 to 15-year-olds who have sent nude images of themselves have had the pictures spread beyond the intended recipient, according to Snapchat.
Ofcom is considering options such as an appeals process or banning children on a case-by-base basis, but says taking an easier stance against children would encourage adults to pose as teenagers to avoid punishment.
Several large sites have zero-tolerance lifetime bans for users who share illegal images of children, but the rules would enforce this in law and apply to all 'user-to-user' services such as messaging apps and social media companies.
The proposals also cover those who disseminate images generated by artificial intelligence. They come amid a set of measures designed to strengthen online safety laws, which will have to be voted on by Parliament and are likely to come into force next year.
These measures include requiring social media firms to set up 'war rooms' during crises, such as last year's Southport riots, with police having a direct line to the companies.
Adults will also be banned from commenting on live streams of children or sending virtual 'gifts'.
Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's online safety group director, said: 'Important online safety rules are already in force and change is happening. We're holding platforms to account and launching swift enforcement action where we have concerns.
'But technology and harms are constantly evolving, and we're always looking at how we can make life safer online. So today we're putting forward proposals for more protections that we want to see tech firms roll out.'