NEWS REVIEW
Crime Bill includes religious leaders under ‘position of trust’ Recently we’ve seen some significant progress on proposed changes to the law regarding positions of trust in England. The definition of a person in a “position of trust” under English criminal law has been expanded to improve child protection by including religious leaders and sports coaches. The Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill, introduced in Parliament in March, would make it illegal for both religious leaders and sports coaches to engage in sexual activity with 16- and 17-year-olds.
As part of our commitment to improving safeguarding by informing legislation, last year we worked with parliamentarians to launch the All-Party Parliamentary Group Inquiry Report on Positions of Trust; a report calling for a change in the law to help better protect 16- and 17-year olds from sexual abuse. The new bill has also been the subject of widespread ‘Kill the Bill’ protests because of its changes to the law around street protests. However, as of writing the Bill is scheduled for a second reading in the House of Lords.
Government lays out plans to protect users online Social media firms will have to remove harmful content quickly or potentially face multibillion-pound fines under new legislation. The government's Online Safety Bill, announced in the Queen's Speech, comes with a promise of protecting debate. It is "especially" geared at keeping children safe and says "democratically important" content should be preserved. But campaigners say the plans will lead to censorship, while others warn fines do not go far enough.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has also developed a new tool for under-18s to report nude photos of themselves online. The head of the IWF, Susie Hargreaves, said the tool was a "world first" and the new tool "will give young people the power, and the confidence, to reclaim these images and make sure they do not fall into the wrong hands online".
Published in May 2021 the bill imposes a "duty of care" on social media companies, and some other platforms that allow users to share and post material, to remove "harmful content". This can include content that is legal but still judged to be harmful, such as abuse that doesn't reach the threshold of criminality, and posts that encourage self-harm.
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