A SWINDON-BASED anti-bullying organisation has called for clearer legislation to protect children and adults from online abuse.

The National Bullying Helpline praised Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s recent letter to big technology firms which asked them to take steps to prevent cyber-bullying and cut the number of underage service users.

However, the helpline has also suggested that more steps need to be taken to protect all online users from anti-social behaviour.

Their website receives over 2,500 visits from children and adults in the UK every day who need help with cyber-bullying issues.

The organisation is pushing for an eCrime Act which brings together elements of the Communications Act 2003, Obsence Publication Act, Public Order Act, Computer Misuse Act, Harassment Act and Malicious Comms Act to create one piece of catch-all legislation that provides clear boundaries of what is and what isn’t considered acceptable online.

It would tackle trolling, grooming, hacking, corporate cyber-bullying, mobbing, blackmailing, stalking, and any other form of online harassment.

Christine Pratt, the National Bullying Helpline’s founder, said: “We commend Jeremy Hunt for all the work he is doing to raise awareness of cyber-bullying.

"These companies need to be aware of the impact that their products have on young lives and something needs to change.

"Parents and schools do not have the technical expertise to solve this problem.

"We have parents contacting us in tears on a daily basis, they need support and education but we also need clarity in our legislation.

"Technology is clearly driving legislation when it should be the other way around, the government should be more proactive and we need to work together to tackle this."

In his letter to the internet firms, Mr Hunt said: “I am concerned that your companies seem content with a situation where thousands of users breach your own terms and conditions on the minimum user age.

“I fear that you are collectively turning a blind eye to a whole generation of children being exposed to the harmful emotional side effects of social media prematurely.

“This is both morally wrong and deeply unfair to parents who are faced with the invidious choice of allowing children to use platforms they are too young to access or excluding them from social interaction that often the majority of their peers are engaging in.”

Mr Hunt also gave them until the end of April to outline action on cutting underage use, preventing cyber bullying, and promoting healthy screen time.

Many children and pre-teens use social media even though the age requirement to sign up to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Youtube is 13.

For more information, visit ecrime-action.co.uk or nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk