Meet Melanie Dawes, the woman about to regulate Britain’s Internet

People check their phones beside a Union flag adorned with a photograph of a smiling Queen outside a shop in central London, on May 26, 2022. Ofcom research showed that a majority of British people have had ‘potentially harmful’ encounters online, such as bullying, attempts at fraud, or exposure to posts promoting suicide. — AFP

Melanie Dawes will soon be in charge of regulating social media in Britain. But as a result of trolling she’s suffered online, the chief executive officer of watchdog Ofcom almost never uses one of the most prominent platforms coming under her watch, Twitter Inc.

Her experiences, including being targeted by a prominent conspiracy theorist, echo Ofcom research that showed a majority of British people have had “potentially harmful” encounters online, such as bullying, attempts at fraud, or exposure to posts promoting suicide.