Children`s charities in the UK agree social media abuse victims must have the right in a new law to sue the social media platforms where the crimes occur.
The UK Government issued a white paper on online harms, introducing the concept of statutory duty of care for tech companies to protect their users from harm. It will be enforced by a new regulator that will be able to issue fines to the tech companies and even hold executives of those companies personally liable when applicable. The three months consultation process in relation to this white paper was closed on July 1st and the Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety (CCCIS) submitted its recommendations to the Government. According to CCCIS, victims of grooming and child abuse images should be able to sue social media platforms where the crime occurred. They stated the current legal framework makes such initiatives difficult to launch, while the statutory duty of care could be a tool for victims to exercise their rights in courts.
“Anyone that can show any damage should be able to get compensation from the companies without having to go through the full rigmarole of going to court as an individual”, said for the Telegraph John Carr, chairman of the CCCIS.