Olly Stephens: Murdered boy's dad slams latest online safety bill delay

The father of a boy whose murder was plotted on social media has said there should be "no more excuses" for delaying a new online safety bill.

Olly Stephens was 13 when he was stabbed to death in Reading last year.

His parents have championed a new law aimed at stopping youngsters sharing harmful online content after it transpired his killers planned the attack on 11 social media platforms.

The government said protecting children online remained "a top priority".

Stuart Stephens, Olly's father, was due to travel to Westminster on Tuesday to watch parliament debate the Online Safety Bill but was told the night before that it would not be going ahead.

The delay came after the legislation was also put on hold over the summer.

Mr Stephens told the BBC he was "annoyed and disappointed" by the latest postponement.

"Law changes aren't coming quick enough and children are dying because of it," he said.

"This [bill] needs to be passed... no more excuses - it's been four years in the making."

He added that the UK was "quite far behind" countries like Australia where similar legislation has already been passed.

"It's tragic story after tragic story on the news - and you can point your finger squarely at social media because without it a lot of this stuff wouldn't happen," he said.

The landmark legislation is one of the first attempts to lay down in law a set of rules about how online platforms should deal with content.

Olly had got into a petty row with a group of teenagers who were not part of his social circle.

Two boys recruited a girl - all of whom were 13 at the time - who was used to lure Olly to Bugs Bottom fields in the Emmer Green area on 3 January 2021.

Their trial heard how they all shared disturbing voice notes and content across 11 social media platforms ahead of the attack.

The two boys were convicted of murder, with one being jailed for 13 years and the other for 12 years. The girl admitted manslaughter and was jailed for five years.

In a statement, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: "Protecting children and stamping out illegal activity online is a top priority for the government and we will bring the Online Safety Bill back to Parliament as soon as possible."

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