NI safeguarding chief warns MPs about children’s porn use

The head of Northern Ireland’s Safeguarding Board has raised concern that online pornography has become “normalised” among young children.

Speaking at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee’s evidence session on violence against women and girls, Bernie McNally told MPs it is “just beyond belief” that “kids as young as nine” have watched pornography on social media.

From 25 July, social media platforms must implement “highly effective age assurance” measures to identify under-18s. Companies in breach of their duties will be fined up to £18 million or 10 per cent of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is the greater. In “extreme cases”, a court could block a website or app in the UK.

‘Choking’

McNally shared that “some kids in school are asking their teacher how do you choke a woman”, while 16 to 18-year-olds have experienced it themselves.

“So something has changed to normalise this and for young people, and some of it can be down to influencers”.

Sorcha Eastwood MP also reported that after meeting with social media firms last year, “not a single one” had heard of the case of Alexander McCartney who was sentenced for online child sex abuse.

Jessica Smith, Technology Policy Manager at the media regulator Ofcom, commented: “Well, that’s absolutely shocking that they hadn’t heard of the case. I’m astounded by that.”

Protections

Earlier this year, Ofcom emphasised the importance of introducing age-verification measures such as facial age estimation or ID.

“At present, it is far too easy for children to access content that is harmful to them online. We expect the riskiest services to use highly effective age assurance to protect children from harmful content.

“If services have minimum age requirements and are not using highly effective age assurance to prevent children under that age using the service, they should assume that younger children are on their service and take appropriate steps to protect them from harm.”

In January, Ofcom implemented separate age-verification rules for pornography websites.