Westminster

Today I was invited to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Online Safety meeting in Westminster as part of Internet Safety Day. 
 
We heard testimony from schoolchildren about their experiences online and what they would like to see change, and from bereaved parents who lost children as a result of events that started online before spilling into the physical world with horrifying consequences.  It’s impossible to hear their stories without being moved, and motivated to action.
 
We know that the hundred thousand or more moderators employed today are overworked and overwhelmed, and that the things they are exposed to in their work harms them too, leading to poor mental health, addiction and suicide.  We can’t just keep throwing people at this problem.  It’s not scalable and it’s not safe.  Technology is a necessary force multiplier and first line of defence.
 
I have the privilege of chairing OSTIA, the Online Safety Technology Industry Association, and I was delighted to be able to talk about some of the work our members do to create a safer internet as part of a panel of experts alongside colleagues from the Online Safety community. 

OSTIA members and other have already created technologies that would make the internet safer if only they were widely deployed.  The Online Safety Act has created the powers for Ofcom (as regulator) to require deployment of safety technologies, but the early consultations from Ofcom suggest that it is exercising these powers in a very cautious manner that will have little short term impact.
 
To fight online harms today and in the future we need a healthy innovation ecosystem creating new technology to deal with emerging threats, collecting the evidence to demonstrate the technology works and does not have unintended consequences, preparing that technology for at-scale deployment and delivering it to front line deployment.  All of this requires investment, and even where the regulator is not requiring deployment today, signposting its future intentions is key to those investments happening.  No one is going to invest in building technology that won’t be used.
 
It is impossible to make the internet completely safe, but we know we can do better than today’s mess. 
 
I hope that the many events and discussions this Safer Internet Day will continue to drive change towards the goal of a safer internet for all.