Which? comments as the government publishes the draft Online Safety Bill

“It is good to see the government recognising that the major online platforms we interact with every day have a legal responsibility to protect their users from scams. However, it would be a huge missed opportunity if the government does not also act on other fraudulent content that leads to scams – including an avalanche of adverts and websites posted by fraudsters.

“Online scams have a devastating financial and emotional impact on victims – and too often platforms like Facebook and Google are leaving their users worryingly exposed to criminals operating on their sites.

“The case for including fraudulent content that leads to scams in the Online Safety Bill is overwhelming. The government should work on these proposals with industry, regulators and consumer groups to ensure users are adequately protected from scams and that online platforms can be held to account for fake and fraudulent content on their sites.”

Notes to editors

• Coalition of organisations urges government to use Online Safety Bill to protect people from an avalanche of online scams