Tech firms must increase women’s online safety
Tech firms must do more to increase safety for women online, urges Ofcom, UK’s independent regulator for communications services, following a study that shows worrying results. “Women are less confident about their online safety than men, more negatively affected by discriminatory, hateful and trolling content, and feel less able to have a voice and share opinions online”, according to a report.
Key results:
– Women spend on average 4 hours 11 minutes online each day compared to 3hours 46minutes for men.
– While 71% of men state that the benefits of being online outweigh the risks, the percentage drops to 63% for female users.
– Fewer women feel confident they won’t come to harm online (64% vs. 73% of men).
– Only 42% of women feel able to share their opinions and have a ‘voice’ online compared to 48% of men.
– Women feel free to be themselves online by 33% vs. 39% for men.
Moreover, women are more negatively affected by the harmful content they encounter, according to the report.
– 43% of women say they felt bothered by harmful content they came across online, compared to 33% for men.
– 85% of women (vs. 70% of men) find hateful, offensive or discriminatory online content particularly concerning.
– The percentages are respectively 60% vs. 25% in regard to trolling.
– 67% of women from a minority ethnic background had at least one harmful online experience within a month versus 61% of white women.
– Women aged 18-34 disagree more than any other group with the statement that “being online has a positive effect on my mental health” (23% vs. 14% for the average UK adult, and 12% of men).
– 23% of Black women disagreed with this statement, higher than white women (16%) and Asian women (12%).
Women internet users support further online safety measures by 56% vs. 43% for men. They regard the protection of online users as a priority by 44% vs. 33% for men.
“The message from women who go online is loud and clear. They are less confident about their personal online safety and feel the negative effects of harmful content like trolling more deeply”, Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, commented.
“We urge tech companies to take women’s online safety concerns seriously and place people’s safety at the heart of their services. That includes listening to feedback from users when they design their services and the algorithms that serve up content”, she added.
Ofcom’s report comes as the Online Safety Bill is currently before parliament. The bill foresees duties on tech firms to help ensure users are better protected against online harm, and an upgraded role for Ofcom as a watchdog, according to media reports.
“As the online regulator, Ofcom’s role will be to ensure tech giants meet duties to improve user safety and provide transparency about how content is shared,” according to the report.
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