In a huge win for campaigners, the government has announced that the Online Safety Bill – a proposed set of new laws designed to safeguard internet safety – will include guidance on reducing risks of harm to women and girls.
When producing this guidance, Ofcom must consult with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and Victims Commissioner to ensure it sufficiently reflects the voices of victims, as well as the views of experts on this vital issue.
For two years, Refuge and the End Violence Against Women Coalition have called for the Online Safety Bill to include a VAWG Code of Practice, which would put the onus on tech companies to outline and implement measures to protect women and girls online. While the government's latest announcement is not the same as a VAWG Code of Practice, it's a step in the right direction and a testament to the tireless efforts of campaigners – including 100,000 members of the public – across the UK.
Here's a deep dive into what this bill could mean for women and other vulnerable groups and what activists and charities have to say about its potential impact…
The ‘cup of tea’ video just isn't cutting it anymore.
What is the Online Safety Bill?
The Online Safety Bill is a new, proposed set of laws that will address illegal and harmful content, including imposing harsher penalties, such as jail sentences, on those posting illegal content (such as image-based abuse) and legally requiring tech firms, such as Meta to prevent users from being exposed to such content.
The legislation would establish three new online communications offences (recommended by the Law Commission in July 2021) that will target “harmful and abusive emails, social media posts and WhatsApp messages, as well as ‘pile-on’ harassment where many people target abuse at an individual such as in website comment sections.”
However, the bill has faced opposition from tech companies, who may be fined enormous sums if they breach any of the new laws.
Earlier this year, Refuge set up an installation opposite the Houses of Parliament, which featured a giant mobile phone depicting a ‘danger zone’ which pictured the apps where women were most likely to be at risk of abuse: with recognisable icons including Instagram, Tinder & TikTok. Joining Refuge was Georgia Harrison, the former partner of Stephen Bear, who prosecuted her reality star ex after he shared an intimate video of her online without her consent in 2020.
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What are the new offences under the online safety bill?
A ‘genuinely threatening’ communications offence, where communications are sent or posted to convey a threat of serious harm.
According to a government press release, this offence is designed to “better capture online threats to rape, kill and inflict physical violence or cause people serious financial harm.” It will also address “coercive and controlling online behaviour and stalking, including, in the context of domestic abuse, threats related to a partner’s finances or threats concerning physical harm.”
A harm-based communications offence to capture communications sent to cause harm without a reasonable excuse.
This offence is expected to “make it easier to prosecute online abusers” as it is “based on the intended psychological harm, amounting to at least serious distress, to the person who receives the communication, rather than requiring proof that harm was caused.”
The government's press release outlines that this will “address forms of violence against women and girls such as communications which may not seem obviously harmful but when looked at in light of a pattern of abuse could cause serious distress."
An offence for when a person sends a communication they know to be false with the intention to cause non-trivial emotional, psychological or physical harm.
This offence covers “false communications deliberately sent to inflict harm, such as hoax bomb threats, as opposed to misinformation where people are unaware what they are sending is false or genuinely believe it to be true.”
The onus is still being placed on women.
How will the Online Safety Bill protect women?
The response to the government's amendments to the Online Safety Bill has largely been positive.
Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge said, “Until now, the Online Safety Bill made no reference to the abuse women experience day in day out online. We know that more than one in three women in the UK have experienced online abuse on social media or another online platform; that’s equivalent to 11 million women.
“While we still need to see the detail on what exactly the amendment includes, we are thrilled to see women and girls finally acknowledged and recognised within this Bill, which is groundbreaking legislation and has the real power to improve women's safety online.”
However, she described the government's decision not to implement a VAWG Code of Conduct as disappointing, saying it would “have been a strong tool to hold social media platforms to account.”
Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women and Girls Coalition, said "While this new guidance does not appear to require platforms to comply in the same way as our VAWG Code of Practice, it is a positive step in the right direction for women and girls’ rights and freedoms online.
"The proposed law had previously failed to specifically name the online harms against women and girls. We can now say it will, and we will work with government and Ofcom to ensure it is as robust as possible and call on tech companies to ensure the implementation of this guidance ultimately brings us closer to a world in which women and girls are free from violence and abuse.”
And around events like the World Cup and Christmas, the number of calls to domestic abuse charities rise.
The bill also contains provisions to tackle prolific online scams such as romance fraud, which sees people (often women) manipulated into sending money to fake identities on dating apps" as well as harsher penalties for cyberflashing and revenge porn.
As with any legislation, the bill's ability to actually protect women will depend on a number of extraneous factors. How will it be enforced? If the onus is on women and other marginalised communities to report harmful content, will they be taken seriously?
Encouragingly, the responsibility to address illegal content appears to lie firmly with tech firms, who will “need to make sure the features, functionalities and algorithms of their services are designed to prevent their users encountering them and minimise the length of time this content is available.”
The government press release adds, “This could be achieved by automated or human content moderation, banning illegal search terms, spotting suspicious users and having effective systems in place to prevent banned users opening new accounts.”
You can read more about the online safety bill here.
For more information about emotional abuse and domestic violence, you can call The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247.
For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis.
GLAMOUR has launched The Consent Survey in partnership with Refuge and Rape Crisis: a vital opportunity for victims and survivors to speak up about their experiences without shame, judgement, or fear of retaliation. We believe that social change starts with a conversation.
That's why we're asking you to share your stories. Your voice matters – and we want to hear it.
In partnership with Rape Crisis and Refuge.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
