UK government pledges to make Britain safer online

Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), has vowed that the Conservative government will make Britain 'the safest place in the world to go online' in a speech at the party's conference in Manchester this week.

Following on from the March launch of the Digital Strategy and September's new Data Protection Bill, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DMCS) has issued a pledge to make Britain a safer place from which to be accessing the internet - the details of which are to be revealed in an Internet Safety Strategy green paper due to be published some time next week.

'Each younger generation is more at ease with technology and quicker to understand the latest innovation – I know my children are. But as a government we also have a duty to protect children and vulnerable people from the less-family friendly corners of the internet,' Bradley told attendees at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this week. 'We have all heard about the dangers of cyber-bulling, Twitter abuse and trolling on the internet. These are problems that Conservatives are tackling head on.

'I believe Britain should be the safest place in the world to go online and this government is determined to make that a reality. Put simply, behaviour that is unacceptable in normal life should be unacceptable on a computer screen. That’s why next week I will publish the Internet Safety Strategy green paper. This will be an important step forward on how we tackle this crucial issue.'

While full details of the strategy are not yet available, Bradley outlined some of its key points during the speech 'As part of this strategy, we will work with key players to introduce a comprehensive response to the problem, including: An Online Code of Practice that I want to see every social media company sign up to; a call for companies to think about safety during the design of their products, to ensure that basic safety features are included from the outset; and a plan to ensure that every child is taught the skills they need to be safe online, because we all have a responsibility to make sure the internet is as safe as it possibly can be. By doing this, and more, we will take a positive step forward in tackling a growing and critical challenge confronting our country.'

Bradley's full speech is available on the Conservative Party website, while the green paper itself is due to be published next week.