‘Online Safety Bill must go further:’ Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones is urging the government to support jail time for tech companies
13 January 2023
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones backs to call for the Online Safety Bill to go further to safeguard children.
The comments come after Conservative MPs have put pressure on the government to ensure the legislation holds social media bosses to account for harmful content.
Speaking on the matter, she said: “Protecting children should be the number one priority for any government. Harmful online content is affecting children every day, from encouraging suicide to putting them at risk of sexual abuse.
“The internet can be a dangerous place for our children and fining big tech companies is not enough, it must go further with criminal prosecution leading to prison time for those found to be knowingly allowing harmful content to be available.
“I fully support a criminal prosecution and up to two years in prison for those who fail the safeguard the most vulnerable in our society.
“This is an opportunity to protect a generation of children, now and in the future.”