Lewes MP Thanks Sussex Police Following 'Significant Threat'

Lewes MP Maria Caulfield has taken to social media to thank Sussex Police for their help and support after she reported a significant threat being made to her over the last few days.

It is unclear whether the threat was made physically or online.

Kent MP Rosie Duffield has also hit out over online abuse this week, saying lack of support is forcing her to consider her position as an MP.

In a series of Tweets she criticises her fellow MPs for doing nothing about the "obsessive harassment".

A draft Online Safety Bill was published mid December 2021 by The House of Lords and House of Commons, which seeks to hold online platforms responsible for policing the content uploaded onto the platforms.

Part of the draft bill reads:

"The criminal law relating to online communication pre-dates the age of social media and modern search engines. It needs updating. We welcome the Law Commission’s recommendations to reform this.

"We want to see new offences on the statute book at the first opportunity for harmful, threatening and knowingly false communications, cyber- flashing, trying to induce seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, promoting self- harm and stirring up hatred against people on grounds of sex or gender, or disability.

"Service providers will be required to mitigate the risks presented by content and activity that society has deemed unacceptable, whether through the criminal law, through the Equality Act, or other established legal principles."

It also states:

"Protecting children is a key objective of the draft Bill and our report.

"Our children have grown up with the internet and it can bring them many benefts. Too often, though, services are not designed with them in mind. We want all online services likely to be accessed by children to take proportionate steps to protect them.

"Extreme pornography is particularly prevalent online and far too many children encounter it—often unwittingly."

The bill draws attention to the abuse received by black players during Euro 2020 as well as the US Capitol riots in 2021.

It added:

"Women are disproportionately affected by online abuse and harassment. They are 27 times more likely to be harassed online than men. 36 per cent of women report having been a victim of online abuse and harassment, with this rising to 62 per cent in women aged 18–34.

"Abuse and harassment are not only directed towards adults: in 2020–21, half of 11–16 year old girls experienced hate speech online and a quarter were harassed or threatened."

In the bill Nina Jankowicz, Author and Global Fellow at the Wilson Center, was quoted:

“Being a woman online is an inherently dangerous act. That is the long and short of it. It does not matter what you do. You are opening yourself up to criticism from every angle ...

"Many women are changing what they write, what they speak about, what careers they choose to pursue because of that understanding that it is part and parcel of existing as a woman on the internet.”

The Joint Committee on the draft Online Safety Bill, chaired by Damian Collins MP, recommends major changes to the Online Safety Bill, which is due to be put to Parliament for approval in 2022.