Olly Stephens: Murdered boy's parents welcome online bill amendment

Olly Stephens was stabbed to death in Emmer Green in Reading in 2021

The parents of a 13-year-old murdered by two schoolboys have welcomed changes to a bill that would allow families access to the data of children who have died.

Olly Stephens was ambushed and fatally stabbed on 3 January 2021 in Reading over a dispute on social media.

New amendments to the Online Safety Bill would make accessing data more straightforward, the government said.

His father Stuart Stephens said the bill's progress was "very emotional".

Stuart and Amanda Stephens spoke after watching the final day of the committee stage of the bill in the House of Lords

Speaking outside Parliament, Mr Stephens said: "It's too late for Olly's generation - they've seen some horrific things through their mobile phones - there is no duty of care on social media at the moment.

"This is about the next generation who are being damaged in so many ways. You can't celebrate but we've made great steps forward.

"Hopefully we will get it passed with bipartisan support and commitment."

Olly's mother Amanda Stephens added: "It does feel like progress.

"We've become different people, but it feels Olly is willing us on.

"His legacy for us is that he would always stick up for the underdog and would never accept people being bullied."

The Stephens joined other bereaved parents and Baroness Kidron (centre) outside parliament

The Online Safety Bill aims to lay down rules in law about how platforms should deal with harmful content.

Under an amendment put forward by crossbench peer Baroness Kidron, communications watchdog Ofcom would have the power to request data from tech platforms on behalf of parents and coroners, where there is reasonable suspicion that the information is relevant to the death of the child.

Culture minister Lord Parkinson told the House of Lords the government would bring forward a package of amendments that "will ensure that coroners have access to the expertise and information that they need in order to conduct their investigations, including information held by technology companies, regardless of size."

He said: "This includes information about how a child interacted with specific content online as well as the role of wider systems and processes, such as algorithms, in promoting it.

The amendments would make the process for accessing data "more straightforward and humane", he added.

Olly pictured with his dad

He continued: "The largest companies must ensure they are transparent with parents about their options for accessing data and must respond swiftly to their requests.

"We must ensure that companies cannot stonewall parents who have lost a child and that those parents are treated with the humanity and compassion they deserve."

Talking to the BBC, Baroness Kidron said she was pleased that complying with the requests from bereaved families would no longer be discretionary for the big tech firms.

"The tech companies will be directed to behave in a certain way and every obstacle to that will be dealt with over the course of the next few months," she said.

Families have described the difficulty of obtaining information from from tech firms.

Earlier this year the government conceded to calls by nearly 50 Conservative MPs for an amendment that would see the introduction of two-year sentences for managers who fail to stop children seeing harmful material.

Two boys, both aged 14, were found guilty of Olly's murder in September 2021 following a trial at Reading Crown Court and a 14-year-old girl admitted manslaughter.

His family have since campaigned for stricter online laws to stop harmful content being shared after it transpired the attack on him was planned on 11 social media platforms.