Britain, US set up working group to improve children’s online safety

LONDON: The United States and Britain unveiled a joint working group on Thursday to look at ways of improving children’s safety online.

At the launch, US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo and British science and technology minister Peter Kyle issued a statement urging tech platforms to go “further and faster” to protect children.

Hugely popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat SNAP.N are already coming under increasing scrutiny over their impact on children.

This, the first trans-Atlantic government scheme of its kind, will only increase that focus.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last year warned that young people using social media risk suffering body image issues, disordered eating, poor sleep quality and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls.

According to figures published by the NSPCC (the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Young Children), Snapchat accounted for 43% of cases in Britain in which social media was used to distribute indecent images of children.

Meta’s META.O platforms - Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - were used in 33 percent of child abuse crimes on social media, according to the NSPCC research.

Social media companies including Snap and Meta have promised to work with officials to protect young users, and say they have introduced new tools designed to protect teens online, including parental control features.