Local MP calls on Ofcom to do more to protect men and boys in Crawley from the Manosphere

Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley, has written to Ofcom Chief Executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, calling on her to do everything in her power to protect men and boys from “manosphere” influencers online, by setting out guidance for platforms to monitor and guard against the specific harms faced by boys and men online.

In November 2025, Ofcom published guidance addressing how platforms can take action against the specific and disproportionate harms affecting women and girls online, a requirement of their statutory duties under the Online Safety Act.

Since that guidance was published, organisations including the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, have requested similar guidance be provided on the specific risks facing men and boys online. Ofcom have so far declined to do so, as the legislation only compels the regulator to provide guidance for harms facing women and girls, despite the fact that nothing in the law prevents them from acting.

As highlighted in the recent documentary by Louis Theroux, Inside the Manosphere, teenage boys are the targets a group of misogynist influencers online, leaving them at disproportionate risk of specific harms including far-right political radicalisation, crypto scams and violent pornography through content by popular creators.

Men and boys encounter harmful content including mis- and dis-information, pornography and misogynist content at a roughly similar rate to women and girls. However, the content targeted at a male audience is likely to be different, and platforms might need to take different steps to understand and tackle the problem.

Meanwhile financial harms appear to be more of a risk among men and boys. According to the Gambling Commission, 53% of 11–17-year-old boys see gambling adverts online each week, compared with 31% of their female peers. 70% of cryptocurrency owners are male, and organisations working with teenage boys increasingly report this to be an issue among under-18s, with FCA research showing 8% of 13-16-year-olds owning cryptocurrency. Sextortion victims are much more likely to be male (91% according to the Internet Watch Foundation) and men are slightly more likely to encounter scams and fraud overall.

Peter Lamb, MP for Crawley said:

“Men and boys in Crawley deserve better than the exploitative and harmful extremes peddled to them by the worst parts of the internet.

“The government has committed to halving women and girls in this parliament – but we won’t be able to achieve this without tackling the spread of hateful misogynist content online.”

“I have been working closely with Parliamentary Groups and other MP’s in Parliament to make the case that Men and Boys issues need more seriously and will continue to be an advocate for those who live in Crawley.”

“For the safety and wellbeing of both men and women in Crawley it is crucial that Ofcom step up. There is nothing stopping them from providing clear guidance to platforms to monitor and guard against harmful content targeted at a male audience, and we need to see urgent action.”