Ofcom to report social media firms that fail to protect women and girls online

The UK Government has asked Ofcom to report on which social media companies are failing to implement measures to protect women and girls online.

As part of the Government’s plan to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG), Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said that companies “must go above and beyond” to make their platforms safer.

Ms Kendall warned that the Government would be prepared to intervene if firms failed to use every tool at their disposal to protect women and girls from abuse and misogyny online.

During a roundtable with companies including Snapchat, Meta, YouTube and TikTok, Ms Kendall encouraged platforms to go further and faster in implementing safety measures.

Ms Kendall said: “Every woman and girl deserves to be safe online and we will stop at nothing to ensure the digital world is working for them, not against them.

“This government has taken tough action to tackle intimate image abuse, deepfakes and the online harms women and girls face every day.

“Now, tech companies must go above and beyond to use the tools readily available to them to make their platforms safer. If they don’t, these companies are not innocent bystanders – they are enabling abuse to thrive.

“That is why we are asking Ofcom to report swiftly on how companies are complying, because better safety and better accountability go hand in hand.”

As part of the Government’s VAWG online crackdown, cyberflashing was made a priority offence under the Online Safety Act earlier this year.

The change means that rather than reacting after such images have been received, platforms must take proactive steps to prevent such content appearing in the first place.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology warned that those platforms which fail to comply with the legislation could face fines of up to 10% of their qualifying worldwide revenue or have their services blocked in the UK.

The Government also vowed to close legal loopholes which have allowed chatbots to create deepfake nude images, and is planning further curbs on social media.

It follows a war of words between ministers and Elon Musk earlier this year, after his Grok AI chatbot – embedded into the social media site X – was used widely to make fake nude images of women.

New legal requirements introduced by the Government mean tech firms must now remove intimate images shared without consent within 48 hours of being flagged.