Social media sites should be licensed like phone firms are, says former top officer

A former senior police officer who headed an elite online child protection unit today called for social media sites to be licensed.

Jim Gamble, ex-chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, called on the Government to license platforms such as Facebook in a similar way to mobile phone companies.

Speaking at the Conservative Party conference alongside Digital Minister Matt Warman MP, he said: “They are not charities. They make their money though click-through advertising.

"We should say there is a licensing fee — the same as there is for mobile phone companies. We will hypothecate a small percentage of your advertising revenue from click-through on the basis of UK citizens that occupy your space and that will be funded to where the real harm lies — off-line not online.

"We need to invest in children and adults’ mental health services.”

Mr Gamble also said social media sites should receive a rating along the lines of the “scores on the doors” restaurant hygiene scheme.

This would show how good that platform was at dealing with serious issues such as extremism and abuse.