IET comments on Online Safety Bill

Christopher Knibb, Director of Policy at the IET, said: “The Online Safety Bill is a hugely important piece of legislation to help the UK benefit from new technology in a safe and regulated way.

However, the Bill is only the first step. Ofcom must now ensure it carries out an urgent review of how the metaverse is governed.

Already, we know that metaverse users are exposed to abusive content every seven minutes, and 25% of children aged 5-13 use virtual reality on a weekly basis.

Technologies such as this are inherently difficult for parents to supervise, therefore Ofcom has a critical role in regulating this space to prevent serious harms that are already prevalent in the metaverse."

Ends

Notes to Editors

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