In addition to strengthening the protection of children online, importantly, the bill boosts protections for women and girls, by adding the criminal offence of controlling or coercive behaviour to the list of priority offences.

Speaking about the changes, Donelan said: “Too many women and girls suffer violent, misogynistic abuse and are bombarded daily with toxic material by social media algorithms. Our pioneering Online Safety Bill forces tech firms to make their platforms safer – and I have strengthened it with even tougher protections for women.

“It will now tackle abusers who use social media to coerce and control women and criminalises the sharing of revenge porn and cyberflashing online. On top of that, it gives women the ability to block anonymous trolls and more control over which harmful content can appear in their timelines and newsfeeds. Taken together, these measures will deliver a radical improvement in the experiences of generations of young girls in the UK growing up online.”

Online Safety Bill to make controlling or coercive behaviour on social media a criminal offence