Local Government Association calls for measures in Online Safety Bill to tackle low level abuse of councillors

The Local Government Association has called on the Government to amend its Online Safety Bill to include stronger provisions that protect councillors from online abuse.

Detailing its concerns in a response to the bill, which is currently passing through the House of Lords, the LGA said that such provisions were needed amid an increase in online intimidation that has the potential to dissuade members of the public from becoming councillors. 

The LGA recommended that the bill include provisions to manage internet abuse levelled at councillors that falls below the criminal threshold.

It also called for assurances from the Government that the democratic and journalistic protections set out in the bill "will not inadvertently protect perpetrators of abuse".

Its response noted that: "Councillors are experiencing increasing levels of online intimidation, abuse and threats made against them, which can prevent elected members from representing the communities they serve and undermine public trust in democratic processes. We hope this bill will go some way in addressing the concerns we have heard from our membership.

"However, we regret the removal of the harm-based communications offence by the government at committee stage in the Commons, which could have been an important tool in tackling this intimidation, harassment and abuse."

The Online Safety Bill was published on 17 March 2022 and seeks to establish a new regulatory regime to address illegal and harmful content online. It imposes legal requirements on social media providers, search engine providers and internet services that provide pornographic content.

In addition, the bill confers new powers on the Office of Communications (OFCOM), which will enable the organisation to act as the 'online safety regulator'.

The LGA's response stated that it supports the overall aims of the bill and that it "broadly welcomes" the new threatening and false communication offences set out in the bill, as well as the user empowerment and verification duty that will enable users to control what content and users they interact with.

Adam Carey