Regulate social media posts identifying people over unverified allegations

Background

We ask the UK Government to introduce legislation or statutory guidance restricting social media pages from publishing identifiable photographs of private individuals alongside unverified allegations, except where there is a clear lawful or public interest.

Additional details

Community social media pages are an important way for people to discuss local issues and share information. However, some pages allow anonymous allegations of embarrassing or inappropriate behaviour to be published alongside identifiable photographs of individuals or their property (such as easily identifiable photos of the person with only their eyes obscured, or photos of their car numberplate), before any facts have been established. This could lead to individuals being targeted.