Digital Confidential: Why toxic big tech must be held to account

Damian Collins MP | 18th October 2021 | Magazine

Now we know that the likes of Facebook and Instagram know their harmful content damages its young users, these tech giants should have nowhere to hide

If we want to end the tragedy of the harm that can come from young minds engaging with toxic content on social media platforms, the corporate culture of big tech companies needs to change. “It is our experience that there is frustratingly limited success when harmful content is requested to be removed by the platforms, particularly in terms of self-harm and suicidal content.” That was the view of Ian Russell, in the evidence he gave to the UK parliament’s Joint Select Committee set up to scrutinise the government draft Online Safety Bill, and which I chair. His daughter Molly took her own life four years ago, aged just 14. As the father of a daughter of the same age, I know that the pain Ian will always feel is the worst fear of all parents of teenage children. While we can give them love, support and guidance as best we can in the real world, the virtual one is a personalised black box working day and night to hold their attention. In that space we cannot follow them in every step they take, and they themselves might not always appreciate that every piece of content they engage with influences both what they will see next and the direction of their journey.

Worrying content

You might say that the best way to stop children finding harmful content online is to keep them off the internet. Well, good luck with that. Social media has created an environment where the fear of …

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