Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) internet trolling and (b) online abuse on people’s psychological wellbeing; and what steps his Department is taking to signpost the support that is available to victims of that abuse.

We are aware of the serious impacts that online abuse can have on users, which is why Government is taking forward the Internet Safety Strategy work, and bringing forward an Online Harms White Paper by the end of 2018.

In order to improve the support available to those who receive abuse online, we are working with the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport to support the Online Harms White Paper. This includes potential legislative action around improved transparency reporting – which includes companies reporting exact figures of how many users who report abuse are signposted on to help – and a code of practice for social media companies.

There is also work taking place across Government and with industry through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS). UKCCIS is made up of more than 200 organisations drawn from across Government, industry, law, academia and charity sectors that work in partnership to help keep users safe online.

To transform mental health services for children and young people’s we are making £1.4 billion available. We are also improving our offer of mental health support for all children and young people through the Green Paper, which is supported by a further £300 million.