Mastodawn

The report of the Southport Inquiry (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-southport-inquiry-phase-1-report) makes for horrifying reading.

Perhaps of particular note to those interested in #OnlineSafetyAct issues, chapter 6 (online harms) of the report:

* leads with criticism of a lack of parental oversight / responsibility, which I found unusual.

* suggests that VPN usage in the UK should be subject to age / identity verification.

* notes that X was unhelpful in its responses to the Inquiry's statutory information requirements.

The Southport Inquiry: Phase 1 report

Phase 1 report of the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Southport attack of 29 July 2024.

GOV.UK

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Neil Brown 1d ago

The report is also critical of Internet filtering in schools, given what the perpetrator was able to access.

I am not sure that being tougher on schools is the answer here - they are already massively underfunded, with too much to do in too little time.

Perhaps it would be wise if the DfE was more specific about the requirements, such that schools, local authorities etc. could put more onus on suppliers to deliver a consistently high standard of service?

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Paul

@neil "I remain concerned that individual schools may lack the technical knowledge to assess whether they have appropriate filtering systems in place"

As someone with friends and family who work in schools, I would delete the word 'may' from that sentence!

If they're lucky, smaller state schools will have a shared IT technician, otherwise it's whichever teacher wasn't in the staffroom when the decision about IT responsibility was made...