Brianna Ghey’s mom hits out at potential watering down of Online Safety Bill | EUROtoday

The mom of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey mentioned she is “frustrated” by the federal government’s strategy to on-line security, as stories recommend the Online Safety Bill could possibly be watered all the way down to appease US President Donald Trump.

Esther Ghey spoke to the BBC on Sunday morning concerning the invoice and the loss of life of her 16-year-old daughter, whose homicide led to UK-wide protests and vigils.

“While we are… questioning whether it’s strong enough or whether it should be watered down, young people are at harm, and young people are losing their lives,” she mentioned.

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“Young people shouldn’t be struggling with mental health because of what they are accessing online, and we really do need to take a hard stance on this.”

Brianna, 16, was murdered by classmate Scarlett Jenkinson and her good friend Eddie Ratcliffe. The killers have been each 15 on the time of the homicide in 2023.

Ms Ghey has beforehand met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his predecessor Rishi Sunak to debate the problem and has criticised the Online Safety Act, saying that it doesn’t go far sufficient.

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She has campaigned for an age restrict on smartphone use, stricter controls on entry to social media apps, more durable motion on knife crime and for mindfulness to be taught in faculties.

On her campaigning work on on-line security and trolling, Ms Ghey mentioned she helps a ban on social media for below 16s.

The Online Safety Act might reportedly be watered down as a part of US commerce negotiations, and the youngsters’s commissioner for England has known as for younger folks to be faraway from social media altogether if that occurs.

Dame Rachel de Souza mentioned this week that “if regulation is pulled back on children, if the online safety bill is pulled back on children, then we need children off social media”.

Mr Trump has imposed a ten per cent tariff on all UK imports to the US, and a 25 per cent tariff on UK vehicles and automobile components.

The UK is pushing for a US commerce deal during which they hope to see tariffs eased.

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On Sunday morning, chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones mentioned that the “basic protections” within the Online Safety Bill “are not up for negotiation”. He mentioned the federal government “won’t be walking away from” the idea that online platforms need to be designed in a way to protect children from harm.

A government spokesperson said: “The Online Safety Act is about protecting children online from harmful content like self-harm and eating disorders as well as making sure what is illegal offline is illegal online.

“These laws are not part of the negotiation and our priority is getting them in place quickly and effectively, while exploring what more can be done to build a safer online world.”