The finding that more than a third of users of the Internet in the UK have been ‘trolled’ or been the subject of harassment or ‘cyber-bullying’, sometimes with severe effects on those singled out for online abuse, has led the Government to commission an independent review of the laws that relate to such abuse, with a view to stamping it out and making the Internet a place where users are safe from those seeking to attack them.

The setting up of an independent commission to carry out the review is the first step of the Government’s ‘Digital Charter’, which seeks to address the problems caused by the fact that the Internet and its use are developing at a dizzying rate and the law has failed in many ways to keep up with this. The aim is to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.

The independent review is expected to be published within six months and a consultation period will follow, after which legislation will be introduced into Parliament.