THREE quarters of adults in Yorkshire think tech companies should face criminal sanctions for failures to keep children safe on their sites, a new NSPCC survey1 has revealed.

The survey, carried out by the child protection charity, found that 73 per cent of Yorkshire adults believe a tougher line should be taken with companies, while 76 per cent agree that social networks should face corporate prosecution for significant breaches.

The figures come just days after the Government released its Online Harms White Paper, which proposed introducing an independent regulator to enforce a legal duty of care on tech companies to keep users safe on their platforms.

The NSPCC believes that tough sanctions are needed to ensure that responsibility to keep children safe is truly embedded in the boardrooms of tech firms.

Nationally 77 per cent of adults believe social networks and their bosses should face criminal charges for failing to keep children safe.

The charity’s opinion poll, which surveyed more than 2,000 British adults, revealed:

• 77 per cent of adults back criminal prosecution of named directors for significant breaches of child safety;

• And 85 per cent support corporate prosecutions to be brought against social networks for significant breaches.

Both these elements were called for in the charity’s detailed proposal ‘Taming the Wild West Web’, released earlier this year.