Social Media: Offences against Children
(asked on 27th March 2018) - View Source
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held in the last year with Facebook and other social media companies about online grooming of children; and with what outcomes.
Answered by
Baroness Williams of Trafford
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government has been working closely with tech companies and tackling online grooming as a form of child sexual exploitation is a priority for the Home Secretary.
To address the progress of what social media companies are doing about online grooming, the Home Secretary visited the US in February 2018 and November 2017 and met with social media companies to discuss what they are doing to prevent child sexual abuse material on their platforms.
Additionally, Facebook are a member of the WePROTECT Global Alliance Board. The Board meets bi-annually, and most recently launched the Global Threat Assessment on 14th February 2018, highlighting the changing nature of the online threat to children.