The government has today (8 September) announced urgent action to toughen the Online Safety Act by putting stricter legal requirements on tech companies to hunt down and remove material that encourages or assists serious self-harm, before it can destroy lives and tear families apart.

While platforms already have to take specific steps to protect children from this dangerous self-harm content, the government recognises that adults battling mental health challenges are equally at risk from exposure to material that could trigger a mental health crisis or worse.

The new regulations mean that content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm will be treated as a priority offence for all users.

Online safety laws to strengthen to protect people of all ages from devastating self-harm content

Vulnerable people across the UK will be shielded from the most dangerous content online, as new laws are set to be introduced to prevent devastating self-harm material from reaching people of all ages.

^{Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (GOV.UK)}