The UK Government's National Crime Agency Director , Graeme Biggar made this statement “Our assessment is clear: the online environment in its current form is not safe for children. The industry response has been too slow, while the problem has been getting worse. Enough is enough”
He added: “Either the tech companies must effectively stop children using those features or make them safe. If they do not, the Government should ban them for U16s.”
NPCC's ,Gavin Stephens, also pointed out in the statement that the online space at the moment had become “something of a wild west”, where both regulation and law were lagging far behind advancing technology.
One could reflect that the UK has done a lot to bring some sort of sanity to the situation through its OFCOM regulations regarding the responsibilities of the Tech companies.
All this said, the two agencies are not arguing for an outright ban on social media and internet access for young people. They hold the view that the benefits to young people outweigh the disadvantages. They want the Tech companies to increase their scrutiny of online communications and increase the level of security for children.
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