Recommendation 7

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