The Stroud MP's weekly column.

This week I am preparing to lead a debate in parliament about online harms and how social media companies need to tackle anonymous accounts that peddle hate.

I was subject to abuse online last year when I took maternity leave after my daughter was born. I certainly do not see myself as a victim of it, but I do want it to be stopped because it is creating harm for so many across our society and it is making women, in particular, hesitant about taking part in public life.

To gather evidence before the debate, I am asking local people across Stroud, the Valleys and Vale to send me their experiences of internet hate. The local information I have already received to date has been very disturbing and I thank people for getting in touch to share what happened to them. It is heart-breaking how many people in Stroud worry about social media abuse.

The public wants to see action on the issue, which is great news. Polling, commissioned by Compassion in Politics, found there is a groundswell of public support to stop anonymous social media accounts.

However, I do not believe anonymous social media accounts should be banned. Anonymous accounts are part of free expression and act as an effective protection to whistle-blowers or those who are oppressed but who want to safely communicate their ideas.

This issue is growing in importance due to high profile people raising concerns. I have spoken to the Football Association’s Kick it Out about the racist abuse that some Premiership footballers receive from anonymous accounts and I am speaking to Katie Price this week about her work to Track the Trolls.

To help with my campaign I have joined forces with a local Stroud gentleman who founded an organisation called Clean up the Internet. We are seeking three main asks:

1.Give social media users the option to verify their identity.

Every social media user should be given the option of a robust, secure means of verifying that the identity they are using on social media is authentic. Users who wish to continue unverified should be free to continue to do so.

2. Give users the option to block interaction with unverified users.

Some users will be happy to hear from, and interact with, unverified users. Others will not. This should be a matter of individual user choice.

Every verified social media user should be able to block communication, comments, and other interaction from unverified users as a category.

3. Make it easy for everyone to see whether or not a user is verified.

Just these three simple steps would be a gamechanger in the campaign to limit hate on the Internet.

I have said before in Parliament that we should be consulting widely on this issue and would hope the social media giants would do these simple things themselves but I fear it will not happen. That’s why I am pressing the government to look at issues surrounding anonymity in the up-coming Online Harms Bill.