An Edinburgh nurse who lost her 13-year-old daughter to suicide in March 2014 is calling for greater powers to be added to the UK government’s Online Safety Bill.
Ruth Moss’s daughter, Sophie Parkinson, took her own life at the age of 13 after she accessed harmful material such as violent pornography online.
Ruth says that Sophie had been self harming after viewing self-harm and suicide websites online and that she was also groomed by older men online before her tragic death at her home in Angus, Fife in 2014.
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Ruth has been tirelessly campaigning with the NSPCC and other bereaved parents to hold tech bosses to account through the new Bill following her daughter’s death.
Recently she has been joined by 1,000 NSPCC supporters who are advocating for UK government ministers in charge of the Online Safety Bill - which is due to be debated at the House of Lords next week - to add an amendment to the Bill that would see an advocate put in place that would stand up for the rights of children.
Personal messages had been sent to ministers to try to outline why they feel an independent advocacy body should be part of the Bill so that they can promote and protect children’s interests and safety against the lobbying of massive tech firms.
The messages were written by survivors of online abuse and harm, parents, grandparents, frontline practitioners and concerned members of the public, with the NSPCC arguing that responses show there is large public support for the amendment.
Those writing to ministers emphasised that as the online world rapidly develops, children are at increased risk and need a body which can stand-up for them, putting their safety first.
Ruth, along with other supporters of the Bill, have previously argued that social media bosses should be liable for failing to give information to the sector’s proposed new regulator Ofcom.
On the amendment, Ruth said: “Someone needs to be legally representing children, to ensure that in future, they have a voice, and that harm is prevented.
“The internet is a fast-moving, ever-changing environment. Children and parents cannot be expected to keep up with the latest internet risks, as effectively as an expert children’s advocacy organisation could.
“A children’s advocacy organisation would be able to concentrate on the processes and safety design of tech platforms, identifying risky design features and problems before they happen.”
Speaking earlier this year, Ruth said she did everything she could to protect Sophie online but warned parents can never be 100 per cent sure what their children are viewing.
She told how she had been shamed by other parents for giving Sophie a phone when she was 12 but warned children can get around even the best parental controls.
"We gave Sophie a phone when she was 12 to give her a bit of independence”, Ruth told the Record.
"We did all the parental controls on the phone, we locked down our Wi-Fi at home, we did everything we could to be responsible.
"But she was still able to access harmful material when she had access to free Wi-Fi, on the bus to school or at cafes.
"When I went on her phone after she died I was met with the most harmful stuff, it was shocking.
"She had gotten around the age verification to set up a social media profile, which I think a lot of children do.
"There was really horrible imagery on her social media account, I was just bombarded with images of self-harm and suicide.
"We checked her phone and internet history like a lot of parents do, but parents can't control everything, if kids want to get around things, they will find a way.
"I faced a lot of parent shaming after Sophie died, people asking why I would give a phone to my 12-year-old child.
"But we did all the things any responsible parent could do, and I was much stricter than I think a lot of parents are.
"Parent shaming is so unhelpful, we are all just trying to do our best.
"You can be the most responsible parent in the world but you are still never 100 per cent sure what your child can get access to which is the really scary part."
The UK Government's Online Safety Bill at present would require tech companies to remove illegal material from their platforms.
But it would only hold tech bosses liable for failing to give information to the Ofcom watchdog.
Campaigners like Ruth want the owners of social media platforms to face jail time if they fail to protect children from seeing damaging content.
Ruth said viewing harmful material was detrimental to Sophie's state of mind.
"After Sophie died it was like me against the tech. Social media companies are very good at getting around legislation”, she added.
“They will make voluntary agreements with the government pledging to do one thing or another but it just doesn't happen.
"We have stringent health and safety in all other areas of work but not within these billion pound tech companies, there is no accountability.
"Senior managers at these companies should be held criminally liable if they wilfully ignore the law.
"It should be clear that if they look at legislation and decide to do nothing with it then they are at risk of going to prison. That is the same for managers in lots of other industries.
"That would help change the culture at these companies.
"It would change the perception of what could happen if they ignore legislation, rather than them just thinking they might have to take a fine.
"Teenagers push boundaries but they are still children at the end of the day and their minds are still developing.
"Once you search something once you are bombarded with similar stuff, whether that's looking up shoes and seeing hundreds of other ads pop up or self harm. These algorithms are so powerful."
The NSPCC said it backed the ‘vital measures’ in the Online Safety Bill but that, as it stands the new legislation does not have the mechanisms to ensure the experiences of children in the online world will be heard sufficiently, quickly, or powerfully by decision makers.
They want a child online safety advocate who can promote, protect, and represent children’s interests, amplify their voices and plug the gap left by what they say is years of inaction by tech firms to give children basic protections on their sites.
NSPCC chief executive Sir Peter Wanless said: “The Government’s Online Safety Bill will bring in much needed regulation, but it has been contested by an industry for which children’s safety is too often an afterthought.
“Ofcom will become regulator with child sexual abuse taking place at record levels online and children still being bombarded with suicide content and misogynistic hate driven by aggressive algorithms.
“Despite this, some companies will be resistant to change their business models and Ofcom would benefit from expert support to help clean up decades-worth of harm that is the result of failed self-regulation in the tech sector.
“A statutory child online safety advocate will be crucial for successful regulation. It will give a powerful voice to the experiences of children and act as an early warning system that embeds a focus on prevention into decision making.”
The amendment is due to be debated by the Lords next week.
A Government spokesperson said: “We are deeply concerned about the widespread availability of harmful content online for children, and we are working across government and with stakeholders including NSPCC to tackle this.
“The Online Safety Bill will ensure there are opportunities for children's voices to be heard and the issues raised acted upon. That is why we have named the Children’s Commissioner as a Statutory Consultee for Ofcom, who will now have duties requiring them to understand the experiences of children by consulting widely when developing the codes of practice.”
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