The UK government wants to be a world leader in protecting the public from online harms. Our regulatory experts played a key role in enabling the UK government to make key decisions around the establishment of a new Online Harms Regulator.
Key Successes:
- identified the capabilities that the new Online Harms Regulator would need
- utilised our regulatory expertise to advise on whether the new regulator should be stand-alone or established within an existing regulator
- undertook cost and economic modelling to recommend how the Online Harms regulator should be funded
We really appreciated the structure and clarity of PA's work. Across a complex, sometimes technical challenge, PA’s experience in the regulatory field was very valuable. Their work helped form the evidence base for us to reach an informed and confident decision on the best way forward.
- Sarah Connolly, director of security and online harms
Enabling a positive experience online
Social media offers many positives – an opportunity to build connections, create and share content, and communicate ideas and news. But it has a negative impact too. It can be used to stream terrorist attacks, radicalise young people, spread gang culture and enable the sexual exploitation of children. These are some of the most serious examples of the ‘online harms’ that take place in what is largely unregulated space. A recent Ofcom report showed that 79 per cent of 12-15 year old internet users reported having had at least one potentially harmful experience online in the previous 12 months.
Following the publishing of the UK Government’s Online Harms White Paper, we advised the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on the most suitable way to enforce a new regulatory framework and how that regulator should be funded.
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