The strengthening of the law forms part of the government’s commitment to ensure new and existing technologies are safely developed and help keep people safer online, particularly women and girls with more than one in three women in the UK having experienced abuse online, according to domestic abuse charity Refuge.

Earlier this year, a report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, in partnership with the Revenge Porn Helpline, confirmed that almost half of global respondents are either a survivor of intimate image abuse or know someone who has been a victim of revenge porn.

“The rise in intimate image abuse online is utterly intolerable. As well as being devastating for victims these crimes have also contributed to the creation of a misogynistic culture on social media that can spread into potentially dangerous relationships offline. We must tackle these crimes from every angle, including their origins online, ensuring tech companies step up and play their part,” said Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, of the legislation.

“That is why we will classify these vile and cowardly offences as the most severe types of crime under the Online Safety Act. Social media firms will face extra legal obligations – backed up by big fines – to uproot this content from their sites, helping to stop their normalisation and preventing generations becoming desensitised to their damaging effects.”

‘Revenge porn’ will be made a priority offence under the Online Safety Act