Peter Lamb, the Member of Parliament for Crawley, has joined more than 60 Labour MPs in urging the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, to provide specific guidance on protecting men and boys from harmful online content. The group of MPs argues that current online safety measures fail to adequately address risks posed by influential figures in the so-called manosphere who often target vulnerable young men.
The call for action follows the release of a documentary titled Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, which premiered on 11 March 2026 and highlighted how online influencers can exploit teenage boys. Statistics from the Internet Watch Foundation indicate that 91 percent of individuals targeted by online sextortion are male. Furthermore, data from the Gambling Commission reveals that 53 percent of boys aged 11 to 17 are exposed to gambling advertisements online each week, compared to 31 percent of their female peers.
Although Ofcom issued official guidance on protecting women and girls online on 25 November 2025, the regulator has so far declined to produce similar documentation for men and boys. Ofcom maintains that current legislation only compels it to provide guidance for harms specifically affecting women and girls. However, MPs pushing for the change, coordinated by Hitchin MP Alistair Strathern, argue that nothing in the law prevents the regulator from acting to protect males.
In a statement regarding his support for the campaign, Peter Lamb said that men and boys in Crawley deserve better than the exploitative and harmful extremes peddled to them by the worst parts of the internet. The initiative is being spearheaded by the Labour Group for Men and Boys, a parliamentary group launched on 29 January 2026 to address various challenges facing males across the country, including online safety, mental health, and other social issues.
For more information on the Member of Parliament for Crawley, visit his official records.
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