Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Deferred
Require DSIT to outline Online Safety Act's impact on children's safety and VAWG prevention.
Recommendation
We are concerned that government departments’ approach to tech–enabled violence against women and girls is not sufficiently agile to address the threats posed by online harm. Tech–enabled VAWG is a rapidly evolving threat. For example, in 2024 the revenge porn helpline received 22,000 cases, compared with 521 in 2015. The Online Safety Act, introduced in October 2023, was designed to ensure that people are protected from harmful online content, notably children and young people. The Act legislates the removal of harmful content from social media platforms. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) 7 is the sponsoring department for the Online Safety Act and is responsible for investigating how the design of online platforms can contribute to or mitigate such violence. As of 16 March 2025, service providers must have completed their risk assessments for illegal content which assessing the risk of users encountering illegal content or, of the platforms being used to commit or facilitate an offence. The Committee welcomes these efforts to try and address some of the evolving threats emerging from technological advancements, as it is clear that social media can play a significant role in shaping the attitudes of young people. However, the Committee is concerned that departments’ reactive approach to tackling this issue may not sufficiently protect those at risk compared with focusing on reducing the production and possession of the harmful content in the first instance. We did not hear convincing evidence that DfE is yet taking a sufficiently proactive role in educating young people, especially boys, on the dangers on exposure to harmful online content, and how this can lead to misogynistic attitudes. recommendation a. In six months’ time, DSIT should write to the Committee outlining the impact that the Online Safety Act has had on improving the safety of children and young people online, and the role it is expected to play in preventing VAWG in the l
Government Response Summary
The government states the recommendation is implemented and describes the Department for Education's existing work on online safety in schools through statutory safeguarding guidance, filtering standards, and the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, which is under review. However, the response does not commit DSIT to writing to the Committee about the *impact of the Online Safety Act* as specifically requested.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The Department for Education supports online safety in schools through its statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping children safe in education. The department regularly consult on the guidance to see where it can and should be strengthened. In March 2023, DfE published filtering and monitoring standards to help schools protect pupils online. A series of webinars, developed with the UK Safer Internet Centre, are available to help schools and colleges implement these standards. Through statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE), pupils are taught about online relationships, implications of sharing private or personal data (including images), cyberbullying, harmful content, and the risks of over-reliance on social media. The Department for Education is in the process of reviewing this statutory guidance and will continue to ensure it is up to date in helping children stay safe online. Additionally, the government is exploring the development of an awareness campaign to strengthen media literacy by empowering online audiences to think critically about misleading and polarising online content. Together, these initiatives aim to create a safer, more informed digital environment for children and young people. Treasury Minutes Archive1 Treasury Minutes are the government’s response to reports from the Committee of Public Accounts. Treasury Minutes are Command Papers laid in Parliament. Session 2024-25 Committee Recommendations: 221 Recommendations agreed: 208 (94%) Recommendations disagreed: 13 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number April 2025 Government response to PAC reports 1-4, 6-9 CP 1306 May 2025 Government response to PAC reports 5,10-17 CP 1328 June 2025 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 1341 July 2025 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 1367 Session 2023-24 Committee Recommendations: 271 Recommendations agreed: 252 (93%) Recommendations disagreed: 19 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 [80 Session 22-23] CP 1029 March 2024 Government response to PAC reports 7-11 CP 1057 April 2024 Government response to PAC reports 12-18 CP 1070 May 2024 Government response to PAC reports 19-24 CP 1085 September 2024 Government response to PAC reports 26-29, 31, 33-38 CP 1151 October 2024 Government response to PAC reports 25, 26, 30 and 32 CP 1174 Session 2022-23 Committee Recommendations: 551 Recommendations agreed: 489 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 62 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 1, 3 & 10 CP 722 August 2022 Government response to PAC reports 2, 4-8 CP 708 September 2022 Government response to PAC reports 9, 13-16 CP 745 November 2022 Government response to PAC reports 11, 12, 17 CP 755 December 2022 Government response to PAC reports 18-22 CP 774 January 2023 Government response to PAC reports 23-26 CP 781 February 2023 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 802 March 2023 Government response to PAC reports 32-36 CP 828 May 2023 Government response to PAC reports 37-41 CP 845 June 2023 Government response to PAC reports 42-47 CP 847 July 2023 Government response to PAC reports 48-54 CP 902 1 List of Treasury Minutes responses for Sessions 2010-15 are annexed in the government’s response to PAC Report 52 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number August 2023 Government response to PAC reports 55-60 CP 921 September 2023 Government response to PAC reports 62-67 CP 941 November 2023 Government response to PAC reports 68-71 CP 968 January 2024 Government response to PAC reports 72-79 CP 1000 February 2024 Government response to PAC reports 80 [1-6 Session 23-24] CP 1029 Session 2021-22 Committee Recommendations: 362 Recommendations agreed: 333 (92%) Recommendations disagreed: 29 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number August 2021 Government response to PAC reports 1-6 CP 510 September 2021 Government response to PAC reports 8-11 CP 520 November 2021 Government response to PAC reports 7,13-16 (and TM2 BBC) CP 550 December 2021 Government response to PAC reports 12, 17-21 CP 583 January 2022 Government response to PAC reports 22-26 CP 603 February 2022 Government response to PAC reports 27-31 CP 631 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 32-35 CP 649 April 2022 Government response to PAC reports 36-42 CP 667 July 2022 Government response to PAC reports 49-52 CP 722 Session 2019-21 Committee Recommendations: 233 Recommendations agreed: 208 (89%) Recommendations disagreed: 25 Publication Date PAC Reports Ref Number July 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 1-6 CP 270 September 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 7-13 CP 291 November 2020 Government responses to PAC reports 14-17 and 19 CP 316 January 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 18, 20-24 CP 363 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 25-29 CP 376 February 2021 Government responses to PAC reports 30-34 CP