Redefining the Digital Landscape: Innovations by Technology Companies

In the digital age, online safety and privacy have become crucial concerns, especially in the UK where a significant portion of the population is facing the repercussions of online harm.

Verifymy, an online safety expert, recently conducted research that revealed three-quarters of UK parents have reported their children experiencing online harm, ranging from illicit content to harassment. This alarming statistic underscores the urgent need for action.

One such initiative is Coracle, a company providing secure laptops to inmates in 90 prisons across England and Wales. Founded by James Tweed, Coracle's mission is to equip prisoners with digital skills, offering them a sense of agency over their lives. This, in turn, can improve their mental health, willingness to engage, and ability to imagine a future different from their past.

However, the digital world isn't without its challenges. Deepfake technology, for instance, is exacerbating the trend of online harm, with over 90% of deepfakes being non-consensual porn of women. This alarming fact was highlighted by the United Nations, who estimated that 95% of all online abuse is directed towards women.

Digital exclusion can also have a detrimental impact on mental wellbeing, health, and opportunities. Alice Hendy, the founder of R;pple, understands this all too well. After losing her 21-year-old brother to suicide and discovering he had been searching for harmful content online, Hendy founded R;pple - a secure and confidential interceptive tool designed to help vulnerable people when they need support most. R;pple directs individuals towards vital mental health support and away from content that puts them at risk of danger.

Hendy's efforts have not gone unnoticed. R;pple has offered an urgent intervention to tackle the mental health crisis, with 24 individuals reporting that they are still alive because of R;pple's intervention. At a time when 90% of jobs are only advertised online, digital inclusion can mean the difference between a new future and turning back to crime.

The Ministry of Justice in the UK has recognised the importance of digital inclusion, setting out a Prisons Strategy White Paper in 2021, aiming to make the prison system digitally enabled. Coracle, one of the few companies permitted by the Ministry of Justice, is playing a significant role in this transformation.

User safety and privacy can be complicated due to our conditioning to skim and accept terms and conditions quickly. Tracy Chou, the founder of Block Party, aims to change this. Previously an engineer at Facebook, Chou has launched Block Party, a desktop browser extension to enhance user privacy and safety. Block Party allows users to check their settings on platforms and tighten their privacy with a few clicks.

Chou's work in user safety has earned her recognition, including being featured in the Techies Project. The 'social' in social media can create new risks of harm, as highlighted by Chou's experiences with stalkers and online trolls. By prioritising safety by design, Big Tech can help mitigate these risks.

In the face of these challenges, initiatives like Verifymy, Coracle, R;pple, and Block Party are providing beacons of hope. They are working tirelessly to create a safer digital future for everyone, ensuring that digital inclusion becomes a right, not a privilege.