Ending the wild west: why the Online Safety Act matters

The internet revolution has transformed every aspect of our lives. Parents, communities, schools, and churches are all being tested by an online world that often feels beyond our control. Many of us remember an earlier, more hopeful vision of the internet. Yet today, our online lives are saturated with misinformation, commercial exploitation, and danger. And over the past decade, the gap between our offline and online worlds has never felt wider.

The Online Safety Act 2023, passed by the previous government, was designed to be the silver bullet for internet regulation. Its most significant measure is the introduction of age verification for pornographic sites. While many think this is new, the principle was actually passed back in 2017 under the Digital Economy Act but never implemented. That decision left children exposed for eight years while online harms multiplied.

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Police data shows the scale of the problem. Since 2017/18, there have been nearly 34,000 recorded online grooming crimes. The specific offence of ​“Sexual Communication with a Child” has risen by 82% since it was first introduced. These crimes are not happening on obscure sites. Meta-owned platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accounted for almost half of grooming cases and a third of abuse image cases.

The impact of this culture is visible offline. A government-commissioned survey found that harassment has become normalised in schools, with 71% of 16 – 18-year-olds reporting that they regularly hear sexual insults directed at girls. The Children’s Commissioner’s 2024 report, I’ve Seen Horrible Things, gathered the experiences of over 253,000 children and parents. Their voices reveal a painful reality.

“You search for something innocent online, the results you receive are not always what you were hoping to see,” said one 11-year-old girl. 

A 14-year-old added, ​“Stop boys from thinking all girls and women are for is to have sex with or abuse. They say stuff and touch us every day and nothing gets done about it. They talk about porn all the time and watch it all the time, play it on their phones.”

As Desmond Tutu famously said, there comes a point when we must go upstream and stop people from falling into the river in the first place. Pornography consumption is strongly linked with attitudes that support violence against women, especially when the content is violent. For many young people, pornography has become their main source of sexual education, shaping their understanding of relationships in deeply harmful ways.

The Online Safety Act represents a major step forward by placing legal duties on tech companies. Firms that fail to comply face fines of up to 10% of their global annual turnover. This moves the burden of responsibility from individual users to the powerful corporations that design and profit from these services.

Critics argue that age verification undermines anonymity and free speech, raising questions about the nature of freedom. From a Christian perspective, true freedom is not about the absence of restraint, but the ability to live committed to Christ, striving for a safe, just, and dignified society (Galatians 5:1, Romans 6:18).

Many believe it attempted too much, with early drafts containing the problematic ​“legal but harmful” principle, which was eventually removed. Others argue the Act is flawed because children can bypass restrictions using VPNs. While this is a real challenge, protecting the majority of children is still better than protecting none.

Public opinion strongly supports action. 75% of parents are concerned about what their children are exposed to online. This raises the question for critics: if not this law, then what?

The Act makes a clear statement that safeguarding children and protecting the vulnerable outweighs unverified, anonymous access to harmful content. It prioritises collective safety over absolute individual anonymity.

However, legislation is only the beginning. The real work lies in building a culture where such a shield is not so desperately needed. Baroness Bertin’s independent report on regulating online pornography, published in February, contained 32 recommendations to strengthen protections, but the government has yet to respond. 

Former MP Miriam Cates has been a key voice in this area, and has warned that, ​“Future gen­er­a­tions will look back on children’s online harms the same way we look back on chil­dren who were forced to work down mines.”

The Evangelical Alliance will continue to work with Parliament and Whitehall to push for a future where children can grow up free from such harm, and these poignant words are proven true.