Online Safety Taskforce Action Plan 2026/27

Monitoring and Reporting

The Action Plan will be delivered through a cross-government coordination effort, steered by Ministers and overseen by the Online Safety Taskforce, which is chaired at Scottish Government Director level. Progress will be formally assessed using a Delivery Framework that establishes clear indicators, defines data sources, and tracks outputs, outcomes, and impacts over time.

The Action Plan aligns with other Scottish Government commitments to support safe online access, including the Equally Safe Strategy, the Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland, and the Digital Strategy for Scotland. These linkages ensure that activities to combat online harms are integrated with broader policy objectives and cross-sector initiatives.

The Action Plan, through the Delivery Framework, has been designed to allow continuity and to enable the incoming government in 2026 to confirm commitments and establish impactful targets, recognising that policy development and funding commitments may be subject to review by a new government.

Given the complex, multi-faceted, and fast-changing nature of online harms, identifying and sourcing reliable data for benchmarking indicators is a recognised challenge. The Taskforce will work across Scottish Government portfolios and with external partners to clarify the types and extent of online harms, including gendered dimensions, and to define methodologies to capture evidence of impact. A mixed-methods approach will be adopted, combining quantitative data—such as resource usage metrics—with qualitative insights into the manifestations of harm and the effectiveness of interventions.

As online harms continue to evolve, our monitoring approach also will remain adaptive. The Delivery Framework will be regularly updated, and the Action Plan formally reviewed 6 months from publication, with a timetable setting out appropriate frequency of future reviews to ensure the Action Plan remains effective and responsive to emerging online risks. This will allow the Action Plan to be shaped by what children, young people, their families and cross sector partners in Scotland tell us and to build in relevant findings from the UK Government consultation.