Social Networking Sites

Baroness Benjamin Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

The noble Baroness makes an interesting point. Some of these things are always much more difficult to implement than they are to suggest. Although the internet service providers are being extraordinarily helpful and supportive of the Government on ways of tackling this, and that will certainly be one aspect they consider, whether it is feasible to stop the worst cases of bullying is another question.

[Baroness Benjamin]

My Lords, will the Government consider having a campaign to make parents and schools aware of how social networking sites can also be used to groom children for sexual exploitation?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My noble friend raises another interesting point. The initiatives which the Government are taking at the moment encompass parents as well as children to try to make sure that families are aware of the dangers of the internet. Of course there is no way that anyone wants to stop the spread of information and the freedom of information, but we need to get the right balance between that and things which are offensive and illegal online.