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Chamber and committees

Crimes of Communicating a Sexual Message to Children

  • Submitted by: James Dornan, Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party.
  • Date lodged: Thursday, 26 August 2021
  • Motion reference: S6M-00942

That the Parliament notes reports that information provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) indicates that crimes of communicating a sexual message to a child have risen by 80% in the last five years, reaching the highest ever number; understands that offenders are exploiting design features on apps that are popular with children as a way of grooming them; notes that the NSPCC is urging the UK Government to ensure that the Online Safety Bill matches the scale of the threat of abuse; understands that, in the second half of 2020, Facebook reportedly removed less than half of the child abuse content that it had previously due to two technology failures; welcomes the recent safety announcements from companies such as Instagram, Apple and TikTok, but considers that tech firms are playing catch-up in responding to the threat after years of what it considers poorly designed sites, and supports the NSPCC’s calls for robust legislation to keep children safe now and in the future.


Supported by: Karen Adam, Siobhian Brown, Maggie Chapman, Kenneth Gibson, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, Ruth Maguire, John Mason, Stuart McMillan, Evelyn Tweed