ISPCC: End flip-flopping on online safety

A children’s charity has hit out at the “flip-flopping” of Government around the establishment of a data safety commissioner.

The ISPCC said that, after a “noisy week” with the Horan grooming court case, it is the time to take a “deep breath” and set out the solutions to protecting children from online predators.

However, differences remain in agreeing on responses, with the ISPCC against raising the digital age of consent to 16 (up from 13), while UCD associate professor and advisor to Europol’s Cyber Crime Centrecyber expert Mary Aiken supports increasing the age and setting up a secure internet for children inside the web.