The Government is adding to the scope of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), for the online safety of everyone in the UK, particularly the needs of groups who are often disproportionately targets of online abuse.
The Government has opened the application process to appoint members of the UKCIS Executive Board. UKCIS will bring together of more than 200 organisations representing government, regulators, industry, law enforcement, academia and charities.
Margot James, Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said: “Only through collaborative action will the UK be the safest place to be online. By bringing together key stakeholders, from the tech giants to the third sector, UKCIS will be the cornerstone of this effort; driving the development of technical solutions and equipping UK citizens to tackle online harms.”
And David Wright, Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre at SWGfL, a charitable trust that specialises in online safety, said: “To build a safer internet, we need to work across sectors and disciplines, making sure we learn from the experiences of a wide variety of citizens. We welcome the new opportunities provided by the UK Council for Internet Safety, and look forward to working closely with the new Council.”
Priority areas of focus will include online harms such as cyberbullying and sexual exploitation; radicalisation and extremism; violence against women and girls; hate crime and hate speech; and forms of discrimination against groups protected under the Equality Act, for example on the basis of disability or race. The deadline to apply closes at 1pm on September 3.
