Ofcom chair says tech firms must prioritise safety alongside clicks

Michael Grade: ‘There is an urgent need for sensible, balanced rules that protect users from serious harm.’ Photograph: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar

The death of the teenager Molly Russell is an urgent reminder that big tech needs to be forced into a new era of accountability and to prioritise trust and safety alongside “clicks and profit,” says the new chair of the UK media regulator Ofcom.

Michael Grade said Ofcom was set to be given new powers under the government’s online safety bill that he would use to hold the biggest and most powerful tech companies to account.