Draft:Clean Up The Internet

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Clean Up The Internet is a British nonprofit organization whose stated goal is to “campaign for evidence-based action to increase civility and respect online, to safeguard freedom of expression, and to reduce online bullying, trolling, intimidation, misinformation, and fraud.”[1]

The organization was founded in 2019 by Stephen Kinsella and Robert McCleod.[2] Kinsella has described his motivation for launching the organisation as “I founded the organisation Clean Up The Internet because I was sick of seeing online debates ruined by trolling and misinformation, and sick of seeing others being threatened and bullied.“[3] Kinsella has also represented the group in UK parliamentary committee hearings. [4]

Campaigns[edit]

The organization campaigns on online safety and regulation of social media.[5] It has called for social media companies to be fined if they do not tackle online abuse.[6]

Its main campaign is “to tackle abuse of anonymity on social media platforms”. It states that “Anonymity can be a force for good. But at the moment the ability to create accounts which conceal the true identity of the user is being abused. It enables and emboldens trolls, bullies and abusers, and is exploited by organised networks to spread misinformation, and to perpetrate fraud.” It calls for social media companies to be forced to offer their users “the option to verify their identity”, “Make it easy for everyone to see whether or not a user is verified”, and “Give users the option to filter out interaction with unverified users”. It claims these measures would “prevent such abuse of anonymity, whilst safeguarding legitimate uses such as whistle-blowing and protecting freedom of expression”[7]

The group has produced research and reports on the role of anonymous and fake social media accounts in disinformation[8], abuse[9], and fraud[10]. .

The group was involved in the campaign for the Online Safety Act 2023 to include a “user verification duty”.[11] They gave evidence to the public bill committee as part of the commons committee stage of the legislative process.[12]. Their research and opinium polling which they had commissioned was cited by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement-Jones during debate of amendments to the legislation in the House of Lords[13] Ofcom has cited Clean Up The Internet's research in its proposals for an Illegal Content Codes of Practice under the Online Safety Act[14].

Clean Up The Internet have criticised Ofcom's proposals under the Act, stating “We’re not confident that Ofcom’s preliminary recommendations add up to appropriate “safeguards” to mitigate the role which anonymous and fake accounts play in enabling a wide range of illegal harms”[15]

Supporters[edit]

Chris Blackhurst, former editor of The Independent describes himself as a supporter who sits on Clean Up The Internet’s “advisory board”[16][17][18]

The group lists a number of UK Member of Parliament as supporters, including Labour Party MPs Chi Onwurah and Stephen Kinnock, Conservative Party MPs Siobhan Baillie, Damian Collins, and David Davis, and Scottish National Party MP John Nicolson.

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/
  2. ^ "CLEAN UP THE INTERNET overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
  3. ^ Stephen Kinsella (October 2021). "David Amess was killed with a knife - so why do MPs want to block Twitter abuse?". The Express.
  4. ^ "Petitions Committee evidence session". 18 November 2021.
  5. ^ https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/new-year-new-internet-why-its-time-rethink-anonymity-social-media/
  6. ^ James Tapper (4 April 2020). "Social media giants must tackle trolls or face charges - poll". The Guardian.
  7. ^ https://www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/
  8. ^ "Anonymous Twitter accounts fuelled the spread of Coronavirus 5G conspiracy theories". 12 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Academic research about anonymity, online disinhibition, trolling and abuse". 18 October 2019.
  10. ^ "New report on fraud, fake accounts, and the User Verification Duty". 25 April 2023.
  11. ^ Siobhan Baillie (26 July 2023). "Siobhan Baillie: The Online Safety Bill. Let's enforce verification online – and so give people more power, information and control". Conservative Home.
  12. ^ https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-05-26/debates/a8f25ba3-fcfa-460b-8287-055606dcc344/OnlineSafetyBill(ThirdSitting)
  13. ^ https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2023-07-06/debates/35CCD184-5828-4C47-AA19-D19D8AF44938/OnlineSafetyBill#contribution-54736080-4AFC-4CC4-A287-50211AB39B5C
  14. ^ Ofcom (November 23, 2023). "Protecting people from illegal harms online Volume 4: How to mitigate the risk of illegal harms –the illegal content Codes of Practice" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "Ofcom illegal harms consultation - some initial reflections". 26 January 2024.
  16. ^ Chris Blackhurst (18 April 2023). "The UK's weak digital bill will fail to deliver knockout blow to online fraudsters". The National.
  17. ^ "Opinion: Regulation of the internet doesn't have to stifle free speech – in fact, it can encourage it". Independent.co.uk. 30 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Tackling online abuse: Banning anonymous accounts isn't the solution". 19 October 2021.
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