Experts have suggested a more rigorous online verification scheme in which users proffer their passport

Digital IDs should be introduced to remove online anonymity and end internet “mob rule”, the security minister has told The Times.

Ben Wallace, a former soldier, said bullying and grooming occurred on social media because offenders believed they cannot be identified. “It is mob rule on the internet. You shouldn’t be able to hide behind anonymity as much as you can now,” he added.

He said that banks can authenticate their users’ identities online, so there is no reason other websites could not do the same.

“I remember going to see an undercover online [investigation] into child sex exploitation. There was a children’s chat room with a 45-year-old pretending to be a 12-year-old. It was like blood in the water with a shark .