New laws could be drawn up to punish online abusers after a report found victims are being failed because of an outdated list of offences criminals can be charged with.
The Law Commission has called on the government to address a “lack of coherence” in current laws that are making it difficult for police and prosecutors to pursue offenders.
Professor David Ormerod QC, the commissioner for criminal law, said it had not “kept pace with technological changes”.
“As the internet and social media have become an everyday part of our lives, online abuse has become commonplace for many,” he added. “We have identified areas of the criminal law most in need of reform in order to protect victims and hold perpetrators to account.”
The Law Commission is calling for a reform of existing laws covering offensive and abusive communications online, a review of how victims of online harassment can be protected, and of how personal privacy is being safeguarded on the internet.
People can currently be prosecuted for offences committed online using laws banning malicious communications, threats and inciting racial hatred but gaps were identified.
They included abusive and offensive communications that do not cross the line into direct threats, “pile on” harassment, and the misuse of private images and information.
Researchers found that women, young people, ethnic minorities and members of the LGBT+ community are most likely to be affected, and that misogynistic abuse “is particularly prevalent and damaging”.
After consulting with victims, campaigners and police, they listed effects of online abuse including depression, anxiety, feelings of shame, loneliness and distress.
The report said it can lead to suicide and self-harm in the most extreme cases, financial loss, job loss and “wider societal harms”.
Women’s charities and campaigners welcomed the proposals, saying that online abuse was not being taken as seriously as that in the “real world” despite evidence of a link between the two arenas.
Women’s Aid research showed that 85 per cent of survivors survey were targeted both online and offline by their abusers.
The Law Commission said existing criminal offences do not fully reflect the scale of online abuse “and the degree of harm it can cause”.
“Practical and cultural barriers mean that not all harmful online conduct is pursued in terms of criminal law enforcement to the same extent that it might be in an offline context,” its report said.
Analysts said that a large number of overlapping offences was causing confusion, and those using ambiguous terms such as “gross offensiveness”, “obscenity” and “indecency” made it difficult for prosecutors to decide when an offence should proceed.
As well as the difficulty of tracing the identity and location of people using anonymous social media accounts, there is currently confusion about whether criminal responsibility for abuse should lie.
The Law Commission said current laws are having little effect punishing and deterring “pile on” harassment that is coordinated against a victim.
1/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading ‘THE BOSS’, for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside the stadium
PA
2/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company’s UK headquarters in London as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant’s handling of sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different parts of the world
AFP/Getty
3/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign demanding action on climate change
PA
4/50 30 October 2018
British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, listens to Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, center, flanked by Lithuania’s Health Minister, Aurelijus Veryga at the Oslo Cancer Cluster for a summit to discuss the role of health technology. Speaking from Oslo, May says this week’s austerity-easing British budget does not signal an impending election
NTB scanpix via AP
5/50 29 October 2018
Chancellor Philip Hammond holds his red ministerial box outside 11 Downing Street flanked by Treasury colleagues (left to right) Robert Jenrick, Liz Truss, Mel Stride and John Glen, before heading to the House of Commons to deliver his Budget
PA
6/50 28 October 2018
Supporters pause to look at floral tributes outside Leicester City Football Club’s King Power Stadium after a helicopter belonging to the club’s chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed outside the stadium the night before. It was confirmed late on Sunday evening that the charismatic Thai chairman died alongside four other people in the crash
AFP/Getty
7/50 27 October 2018
Glenn Hoddle is taken to hospital after falling ill at the BT Sport studio
Getty
8/50 26 October 2018
A man has been arrested for the attempted theft of a copy of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral, one of the four remaining originals of the historic document of English liberty
Reuters
9/50 25 October 2018
Retail business man Sir Philip Green has been named in Parliament for sexual harassment of staff
Getty
10/50 24 October 2018
The Daily Telegraph today reports that they were subject to a gagging order to prohibit them publishing the details of a leading businessman who is facing allegations of sexual assault and racial abuse
PA
11/50 23 October 2018
Thousands of female workers have today taken to the streets of Glasgow over an equal pay dispute with the City Council
PA
12/50 22 October 2018
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe who has called for an “urgent review” of the evidence around legislation of cannabis. Hogan-Howe, who has always supported tough laws on cannabis, investigated the issue for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.
PA
13/50 21 October 2018
The Red Funnel car ferry, Red Falcon, which earlier collided with several small boats due to bad weather, passes the mast of a submerged yacht as she leaves East Cowes on the Isle of Wight bound for Southampton
PA
14/50 20 October 2018
Anti-Brexit campaigners lowering a banner off Westminster Bridge in London before taking part in the People’s Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum
PA
15/50 19 October 2018
Members of a grooming gang who abused vulnerable girls in Huddersfield have been jailed for a total of more than 220 years.
Three trials at Leeds Crown Court this year heard how at least 15 victims were groomed and raped in the West Yorkshire town between 2004 and 2011.
They were aged between 11 and 17 when they were “deliberately targeted” by older men and trafficked across the region
West Yorkshire Police
16/50 18 October 2018
Theresa May leaves after a news conference at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels
Reuters
17/50 17 October 2018
Police officers with a bomb disposal robot on Victoria Embankment opposite Scotland Yard police headquarters in central London after emergency services were alerted to reports of a suspicious package
AFP/Getty
18/50 16 October 2018
Scottish Power will become the first major UK energy company to generate the entirety of its power from wind after selling its remaining gas and hydro stations to Drax in a £702 million deal
Getty
19/50 15 October 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May peers into a hot water urn during a meeting at a social group in Vauxhall from a charity working to combat loneliness at the launch of the first loneliness strategy. Launching the strategy, May confirmed English GPs will be able to refer lonely people to community and voluntary activities by 2023, as she paid tribute to murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, who had campaigned to end loneliness before her death
PA
20/50 14 October 2018
Jeremy Hunt hosting eastern European Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Secretary’s official country residence ahead of tomorrow’s meetings at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg where chemical weapons sanctions will be formally adopted
PA
21/50 13 October 2018
Police stop a breakaway from the main Football Lads alliance march, as they attempt to get close to a rival anti-facist demonstration in London
AP
22/50 12 October 2018
Waves hit Cawsand, Cornwall as Storm Callum arrives to the UK
PA
23/50 11 October 2018
Former Prime Minister John Major has spoken out against the launch of Universal Credit (the Government’s new benefit model). Claiming that it will hurt families of “already meagre living standards”, he suggested that the policy could be similarly damaging to Theresa May as Poll Tax was to Margaret Thatcher
PA
24/50 10 October 2018
The Supreme Court has ruled that two Belfast bakers were within the law to refuse to cook a cake that endorsed gay marriage. The case, beginning in 2014 and progressing to the highest court in the land, has been controversial and has raised discussion about the balance of rights and equality
Reuters
25/50 9 October 2018
Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon acknowledges the applause as she delivers her keynote speech to delegates on the final day of the SNP annual conference in Glasgow
AFP/Getty
26/50 8 October 2018
Anna Richardson and Alastair Campbell pose with their portraits at Let’s Talk, a photography exhibition created in partnership with Mental Health UK at Regent’s Place in London. It is designed to inspire open and honest conversations about mental health by depicting each subjects inner battles on their faces
Paul Davey/SWNS
27/50 7 October 2018
The Royal De Luxe theatre company’s ‘Giants’ street puppets during a street theatre performances in Liverpool
PA
28/50 6 October 2018
Banksy’s artwork, Girl With Balloon which shredded itself after being sold for more than £1 million at auction. The auction house was forced to admit it got Banksy-ed after the canvas suddenly passed through a shredder installed in the frame
PA
29/50 5 October 2018
A new artwork depicting Prime Minister Theresa May by street artist The Pink Bear Rebel has recently appeared in the West End of Glasgow
PA
30/50 4 October 2018
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a climbing wall during a visit to The Climbing Lab in Leeds, which was damaged during the Boxing Day floods in 2015 as he supported the city’s bid for more funding for flood defences to prevent any future disasters
PA
31/50 3 October 2018
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May dances a few steps as she takes to the stage to give her keynote address on the fourth and final day of the Conservative Party Conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham
AFP/Getty
32/50 2 October 2018
Boris Johnson warned that Theresa May’s “cheat” Brexit plans would leave the UK in “manacles” and lead to the dominance of the far right and far left in British politics during his speech at a fringe event at the Conservative Party annual conference in Birmingham
PA
33/50 1 October 2018
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson speaking at the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham
PA
34/50 30 September 2018
Protestors set off on an anti-Brexit march, organised by the ‘Best For Britain’ campaign group, in central Birmingham
AFP/Getty
35/50 29 September 2018
Royal Navy Commander, Nathan Gray lands his F-35B onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time.
Two F-35B Lightning II fighter jets have successfully landed onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time, laying the foundations for the next 50 years of fixed wing aviation in support of the UK’s Carrier Strike Capability.
Royal Navy Commander, Nathan Gray, 41, made history by being the first to land on, carefully manoeuvring his stealth jet onto the thermal coated deck. He was followed by Squadron Leader Andy Edgell, RAF, both of whom are test pilots, operating with the Integrated Test Force (ITF) based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
Shortly afterwards, once a deck inspection has been conducted and the all-clear given, Cdr Gray became the first pilot to take off using the ship’s ski-ramp.
Crown copyright/PO Arron Hoare
36/50 28 September 2018
Headteachers from across England and Wales hold signs in Parliament Square, London, as they prepare to march on Downing Street to demand extra money for schools
PA
37/50 27 September 2018
Former leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson (C) arrives at the Old Bailey Courthouse in London, Britain, 27 September 2018. The far right figurehead whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon faces a rehearing after winning an appeal against a contempt of court finding last month.
EPA
38/50 26 September 2018
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn delivers a keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool
EPA
39/50 25 September 2018
Derby County manager leads the celebrations with players in front of their fans after winning a penalty shootout against Manchester United in the third round of the Carabao Cup. Lampard faced his old manager as a player, Jose Mourinho, for the first time in his managerial career
Action Images via Reuters
40/50 24 September 2018
The European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt arriving in Downing Street, in London, for a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May
AFP/Getty
41/50 23 September 2018
Campaigners take part in a ‘People’s Vote’ March in central Liverpool to call for members of the public to be given a vote on the final negotiations of the UK’s exit from the European Union and coincides with the annual Labour Party Conference
EPA
42/50 22 September 2018
US telecommunications company Comcast has won the bid for Sky. Already owning 39% of shares in Sky, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox was looking to take full control, but has been outbid by Comcast at £30 billion
PA
43/50 21 September 2018
The Prime Minister responded with ire to the EU’s rejection of her Chequers deal, stating that it is “unacceptable” at this stage for them to reject a deal outright without offering an alternative, and that the UK expects to be treated with respect
Reuters
44/50 20 September 2018
Chris Evans’ wife Natasha Shishmanian has given birth to twins, a boy and girl affectionately nicknamed “Ping and Pong” throughout the pregnancy
Getty
45/50 19 September 2018
Storm Ali hit the British Isles bringing winds of up to 100mph. A woman in the Republic of Ireland was killed when her caravan was blown off of a cliff and a man in Northern Ireland was killed by a falling tree. Pictured is a bus that was carrying students of Dundee University that was hit by a falling tree in Fife
PA
46/50 18 September 2018
Car manufacturer BMW announced that its Mini factory in the UK would close for its annual summer maintenance several weeks earlier than planned, starting on April 1, 2019, to avoid any disruption in case of a no-deal Brexit
AFP/Getty
47/50 17 September 2018
“It’s either my deal or no deal”, the Prime Minister has said to the BBC’s Nick Robinson in an interview on Panorama. Mrs May also claims to be irritated by the constant speculation over her leadership, stating “this debate is not about my future. This debate is about the future of the people of the UK and the future of the United Kingdom.”
BBC/Jeff Overs
48/50 16 September 2018
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced his support for a second Brexit referendum. In The Observer, the mayor writes: “After careful consideration, I’ve decided the people must get a final say. This means a public vote on any deal or a vote on a no deal, alongside the option of staying in the EU”
BBC/PA
49/50 15 September 2018
The Liberal Democrats party conference began in Brighton. In his conference speech, leader Vince Cable is expected to elaborate on his plans for a “Movement for Moderates”
PA
50/50 14 September 2018
An early Banksy mural has been accidentally painted over during renovations. The mural has been on the shop front on Park Row in the artist’s hometown of Bristol since the 1990s
PA
1/50 2 November 2018
Wreaths reading ‘THE BOSS’, for Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, left by Leicester City players outside the King Power stadium. Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, was among those to have tragically lost their lives on Saturday evening when a helicopter carrying him and four other people crashed outside the stadium
PA
2/50 1 November 2018
Google staff stage a walkout at the company’s UK headquarters in London as part of a global campaign over the US tech giant’s handling of sexual harassment. Hundreds of employees also walked out of their European headquarters in Dublin, as well as, other offices in different parts of the world
AFP/Getty
3/50 31 October 2018
Protesters block Parliament Square in London as the environmental group Extinction Rebellion launches a mass civil disobedience campaign demanding action on climate change
PA
4/50 30 October 2018
British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, listens to Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, center, flanked by Lithuania’s Health Minister, Aurelijus Veryga at the Oslo Cancer Cluster for a summit to discuss the role of health technology. Speaking from Oslo, May says this week’s austerity-easing British budget does not signal an impending election
NTB scanpix via AP
5/50 29 October 2018
Chancellor Philip Hammond holds his red ministerial box outside 11 Downing Street flanked by Treasury colleagues (left to right) Robert Jenrick, Liz Truss, Mel Stride and John Glen, before heading to the House of Commons to deliver his Budget
PA
6/50 28 October 2018
Supporters pause to look at floral tributes outside Leicester City Football Club’s King Power Stadium after a helicopter belonging to the club’s chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed outside the stadium the night before. It was confirmed late on Sunday evening that the charismatic Thai chairman died alongside four other people in the crash
AFP/Getty
7/50 27 October 2018
Glenn Hoddle is taken to hospital after falling ill at the BT Sport studio
Getty
8/50 26 October 2018
A man has been arrested for the attempted theft of a copy of Magna Carta from Salisbury Cathedral, one of the four remaining originals of the historic document of English liberty
Reuters
9/50 25 October 2018
Retail business man Sir Philip Green has been named in Parliament for sexual harassment of staff
Getty
10/50 24 October 2018
The Daily Telegraph today reports that they were subject to a gagging order to prohibit them publishing the details of a leading businessman who is facing allegations of sexual assault and racial abuse
PA
11/50 23 October 2018
Thousands of female workers have today taken to the streets of Glasgow over an equal pay dispute with the City Council
PA
12/50 22 October 2018
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe who has called for an “urgent review” of the evidence around legislation of cannabis. Hogan-Howe, who has always supported tough laws on cannabis, investigated the issue for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.
PA
13/50 21 October 2018
The Red Funnel car ferry, Red Falcon, which earlier collided with several small boats due to bad weather, passes the mast of a submerged yacht as she leaves East Cowes on the Isle of Wight bound for Southampton
PA
14/50 20 October 2018
Anti-Brexit campaigners lowering a banner off Westminster Bridge in London before taking part in the People’s Vote March for the Future in London, a march and rally in support of a second EU referendum
PA
15/50 19 October 2018
Members of a grooming gang who abused vulnerable girls in Huddersfield have been jailed for a total of more than 220 years.
Three trials at Leeds Crown Court this year heard how at least 15 victims were groomed and raped in the West Yorkshire town between 2004 and 2011.
They were aged between 11 and 17 when they were “deliberately targeted” by older men and trafficked across the region
West Yorkshire Police
16/50 18 October 2018
Theresa May leaves after a news conference at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels
Reuters
17/50 17 October 2018
Police officers with a bomb disposal robot on Victoria Embankment opposite Scotland Yard police headquarters in central London after emergency services were alerted to reports of a suspicious package
AFP/Getty
18/50 16 October 2018
Scottish Power will become the first major UK energy company to generate the entirety of its power from wind after selling its remaining gas and hydro stations to Drax in a £702 million deal
Getty
19/50 15 October 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May peers into a hot water urn during a meeting at a social group in Vauxhall from a charity working to combat loneliness at the launch of the first loneliness strategy. Launching the strategy, May confirmed English GPs will be able to refer lonely people to community and voluntary activities by 2023, as she paid tribute to murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, who had campaigned to end loneliness before her death
PA
20/50 14 October 2018
Jeremy Hunt hosting eastern European Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Secretary’s official country residence ahead of tomorrow’s meetings at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg where chemical weapons sanctions will be formally adopted
PA
21/50 13 October 2018
Police stop a breakaway from the main Football Lads alliance march, as they attempt to get close to a rival anti-facist demonstration in London
AP
22/50 12 October 2018
Waves hit Cawsand, Cornwall as Storm Callum arrives to the UK
PA
23/50 11 October 2018
Former Prime Minister John Major has spoken out against the launch of Universal Credit (the Government’s new benefit model). Claiming that it will hurt families of “already meagre living standards”, he suggested that the policy could be similarly damaging to Theresa May as Poll Tax was to Margaret Thatcher
PA
24/50 10 October 2018
The Supreme Court has ruled that two Belfast bakers were within the law to refuse to cook a cake that endorsed gay marriage. The case, beginning in 2014 and progressing to the highest court in the land, has been controversial and has raised discussion about the balance of rights and equality
Reuters
25/50 9 October 2018
Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon acknowledges the applause as she delivers her keynote speech to delegates on the final day of the SNP annual conference in Glasgow
AFP/Getty
26/50 8 October 2018
Anna Richardson and Alastair Campbell pose with their portraits at Let’s Talk, a photography exhibition created in partnership with Mental Health UK at Regent’s Place in London. It is designed to inspire open and honest conversations about mental health by depicting each subjects inner battles on their faces
Paul Davey/SWNS
27/50 7 October 2018
The Royal De Luxe theatre company’s ‘Giants’ street puppets during a street theatre performances in Liverpool
PA
28/50 6 October 2018
Banksy’s artwork, Girl With Balloon which shredded itself after being sold for more than £1 million at auction. The auction house was forced to admit it got Banksy-ed after the canvas suddenly passed through a shredder installed in the frame
PA
29/50 5 October 2018
A new artwork depicting Prime Minister Theresa May by street artist The Pink Bear Rebel has recently appeared in the West End of Glasgow
PA
30/50 4 October 2018
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a climbing wall during a visit to The Climbing Lab in Leeds, which was damaged during the Boxing Day floods in 2015 as he supported the city’s bid for more funding for flood defences to prevent any future disasters
PA
31/50 3 October 2018
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May dances a few steps as she takes to the stage to give her keynote address on the fourth and final day of the Conservative Party Conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham
AFP/Getty
32/50 2 October 2018
Boris Johnson warned that Theresa May’s “cheat” Brexit plans would leave the UK in “manacles” and lead to the dominance of the far right and far left in British politics during his speech at a fringe event at the Conservative Party annual conference in Birmingham
PA
33/50 1 October 2018
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson speaking at the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham
PA
34/50 30 September 2018
Protestors set off on an anti-Brexit march, organised by the ‘Best For Britain’ campaign group, in central Birmingham
AFP/Getty
35/50 29 September 2018
Royal Navy Commander, Nathan Gray lands his F-35B onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time.
Two F-35B Lightning II fighter jets have successfully landed onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time, laying the foundations for the next 50 years of fixed wing aviation in support of the UK’s Carrier Strike Capability.
Royal Navy Commander, Nathan Gray, 41, made history by being the first to land on, carefully manoeuvring his stealth jet onto the thermal coated deck. He was followed by Squadron Leader Andy Edgell, RAF, both of whom are test pilots, operating with the Integrated Test Force (ITF) based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
Shortly afterwards, once a deck inspection has been conducted and the all-clear given, Cdr Gray became the first pilot to take off using the ship’s ski-ramp.
Crown copyright/PO Arron Hoare
36/50 28 September 2018
Headteachers from across England and Wales hold signs in Parliament Square, London, as they prepare to march on Downing Street to demand extra money for schools
PA
37/50 27 September 2018
Former leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson (C) arrives at the Old Bailey Courthouse in London, Britain, 27 September 2018. The far right figurehead whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon faces a rehearing after winning an appeal against a contempt of court finding last month.
EPA
38/50 26 September 2018
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn delivers a keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool
EPA
39/50 25 September 2018
Derby County manager leads the celebrations with players in front of their fans after winning a penalty shootout against Manchester United in the third round of the Carabao Cup. Lampard faced his old manager as a player, Jose Mourinho, for the first time in his managerial career
Action Images via Reuters
40/50 24 September 2018
The European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt arriving in Downing Street, in London, for a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May
AFP/Getty
41/50 23 September 2018
Campaigners take part in a ‘People’s Vote’ March in central Liverpool to call for members of the public to be given a vote on the final negotiations of the UK’s exit from the European Union and coincides with the annual Labour Party Conference
EPA
42/50 22 September 2018
US telecommunications company Comcast has won the bid for Sky. Already owning 39% of shares in Sky, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox was looking to take full control, but has been outbid by Comcast at £30 billion
PA
43/50 21 September 2018
The Prime Minister responded with ire to the EU’s rejection of her Chequers deal, stating that it is “unacceptable” at this stage for them to reject a deal outright without offering an alternative, and that the UK expects to be treated with respect
Reuters
44/50 20 September 2018
Chris Evans’ wife Natasha Shishmanian has given birth to twins, a boy and girl affectionately nicknamed “Ping and Pong” throughout the pregnancy
Getty
45/50 19 September 2018
Storm Ali hit the British Isles bringing winds of up to 100mph. A woman in the Republic of Ireland was killed when her caravan was blown off of a cliff and a man in Northern Ireland was killed by a falling tree. Pictured is a bus that was carrying students of Dundee University that was hit by a falling tree in Fife
PA
46/50 18 September 2018
Car manufacturer BMW announced that its Mini factory in the UK would close for its annual summer maintenance several weeks earlier than planned, starting on April 1, 2019, to avoid any disruption in case of a no-deal Brexit
AFP/Getty
47/50 17 September 2018
“It’s either my deal or no deal”, the Prime Minister has said to the BBC’s Nick Robinson in an interview on Panorama. Mrs May also claims to be irritated by the constant speculation over her leadership, stating “this debate is not about my future. This debate is about the future of the people of the UK and the future of the United Kingdom.”
BBC/Jeff Overs
48/50 16 September 2018
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced his support for a second Brexit referendum. In The Observer, the mayor writes: “After careful consideration, I’ve decided the people must get a final say. This means a public vote on any deal or a vote on a no deal, alongside the option of staying in the EU”
BBC/PA
49/50 15 September 2018
The Liberal Democrats party conference began in Brighton. In his conference speech, leader Vince Cable is expected to elaborate on his plans for a “Movement for Moderates”
PA
50/50 14 September 2018
An early Banksy mural has been accidentally painted over during renovations. The mural has been on the shop front on Park Row in the artist’s hometown of Bristol since the 1990s
PA
It also questioned whether the law is adequate to deal with victims who find personal information, such as about their health or sexual history, widely spread online.
Commissioners suggested that coordinated abuse committed by a group of offenders, or the use of images could become aggravating factors that increase sentences.
Margot James, the digital minister, said the government would consider the findings as part of an upcoming white paper on internet laws.
She added: “Behaviour that is illegal offline should be treated the same when it’s committed online.
“We’ve listened to victims of online abuse as it’s important that the right legal protections are in place to meet the challenges of new technology.”
