Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of UK users of the organisations expected to be in within the scope of the draft Online Safety Bill that access (1) pornographic websites, and (2) social media sites that contain pornography
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Online Safety Bill will deliver the most comprehensive approach in the world to protecting children online. Where pornographic websites or social media sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interactions (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming), they will be subject to the duty of care. The government has not conducted a detailed sector-by-sector analysis of the services in scope of the Bill and the number of UK users accessing those services, given the breadth of services in scope of legislation. However, the online safety regime will capture both the pornography sites most visited by UK users and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography.
The exact list of Category 1 services has not yet been determined. We have set out how the process will work for designating Category 1 services. Thresholds will be set by the government about the number of users and functionalities of a service, following receipt of advice from Ofcom. This is to ensure the process is objective and evidence-based. Ofcom will then be required to assess services against these thresholds and publish a register of all those which meet both thresholds.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of (1) pornographic websites, and (2) social media sites that contain pornography, that will be (a) Category 1 organisations, and (b) not Category 1 organisations, under the draft Online Safety Bill.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Online Safety Bill will deliver the most comprehensive approach in the world to protecting children online. Where pornographic websites or social media sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interactions (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming), they will be subject to the duty of care. The government has not conducted a detailed sector-by-sector analysis of the services in scope of the Bill and the number of UK users accessing those services, given the breadth of services in scope of legislation. However, the online safety regime will capture both the pornography sites most visited by UK users and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography.
The exact list of Category 1 services has not yet been determined. We have set out how the process will work for designating Category 1 services. Thresholds will be set by the government about the number of users and functionalities of a service, following receipt of advice from Ofcom. This is to ensure the process is objective and evidence-based. Ofcom will then be required to assess services against these thresholds and publish a register of all those which meet both thresholds.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of organisations within the scope of the draft Online Safety Bill that are (1) pornographic websites, and (2) social media sites that contain pornography.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Online Safety Bill will deliver the most comprehensive approach in the world to protecting children online. Where pornographic websites or social media sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interactions (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming), they will be subject to the duty of care. The government has not conducted a detailed sector-by-sector analysis of the services in scope of the Bill and the number of UK users accessing those services, given the breadth of services in scope of legislation. However, the online safety regime will capture both the pornography sites most visited by UK users and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography.
The exact list of Category 1 services has not yet been determined. We have set out how the process will work for designating Category 1 services. Thresholds will be set by the government about the number of users and functionalities of a service, following receipt of advice from Ofcom. This is to ensure the process is objective and evidence-based. Ofcom will then be required to assess services against these thresholds and publish a register of all those which meet both thresholds.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Digital and Culture on 11 January (130006), to which online pornography sites their online harms proposals will apply.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interactions (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming), they will be subject to the duty of care.
The online harms regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. In practice, we would anticipate that any commercial pornography site hosting user generated content or facilitating user-interaction will need to put in place robust measures such as age verification to prevent children from accessing it. This would then also protect children from any non user generated content as well.
We will continue to review our proposals to ensure we deliver the most comprehensive protections for children online.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Digital and Culture on 11 January (130006), what estimate they have made of the number of online pornography sites which (1) allow, and (2) do not allow, (a) user-generated content, or (b) user interaction; whether they keep a record of those sites; and if so, what plans they have to publish those records.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interactions (including video and image sharing, commenting and live streaming), they will be subject to the duty of care.
The online harms regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. In practice, we would anticipate that any commercial pornography site hosting user generated content or facilitating user-interaction will need to put in place robust measures such as age verification to prevent children from accessing it. This would then also protect children from any non user generated content as well.
We will continue to review our proposals to ensure we deliver the most comprehensive protections for children online.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the impact of the loss of business during (1) Easter, (2) other school holidays, and (3) May, on museums, galleries and heritage buildings.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Department has been working closely with stakeholders across museums, galleries and heritage sites throughout the pandemic, and do not underestimate the significant impact that the closure - and subsequent loss of visitors and in-person access - has had.
In the roadmap laid out by the Prime Minister, outdoor activity has been prioritised because the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission is substantially lower in the open air than indoors. From 29th March, groups of six, or two households will be able to meet outside and socialise outdoors at heritage sites, with seasonal offers including Easter walking trails.
In the Budget,the Chancellor announced extensions to measures which have supported museums, galleries and heritage sites throughout the pandemic. These include extending the COVID Job Retention Scheme and Self Employment Income Support Scheme until September 2021; hospitality VAT set at 5% until July 2021; and a new programme of business loans.
Building on the £100m awarded to DCMS-Sponsored Arm’s Length Bodies, (including national museums and galleries) in 20-21, the government will now provide an additional £90m to mitigate the financial impacts of Covid-19.
We have made a record investment in cultural and creative sectors, including museums, galleries and heritage buildings - nearly £2 billion (including additional support for the Culture Recovery Fund and £500 million on the Film and TV Restart scheme). These are unprecedented sums.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) educational, (2) well-being, and (3) cultural, impact of allowing museums, galleries and heritage buildings to re-open.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is clear evidence of an association between arts and culture participation and self-reported subjective wellbeing, even when social, economic and lifestyle factors are taken into account. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Arts, Health and Wellbeing found evidence that cultural engagement reduces stress and helps people to live longer and happier lives. During the first national lockdown, a DCMS study showed well-being increased with access to outdoor space, often accessed at heritage sites.
Learning is at the heart of museums, galleries and heritage sites. Many identify as delivering education as their primary function. In the public consultation for the Mendoza Review, 85% of over 1,200 respondents felt that museums and galleries are primarily places for education.
Museums, galleries and heritage sites contribute to positive social outcomes at a local level, making places more attractive to businesses and residents.
Our roadmap is driven by the latest evidence on the risk of transmission. We are therefore reopening outdoor settings before indoor settings, and reopening relatively low risk indoor settings where household mixing is less likely to take place at an earlier step, including retail, personal care and exercise facilities.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have, if any, that non-user generated pornography is not used to depict (1) rough sex practices, and (2) sexual violence.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government will deliver the objective of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) to protect children from online pornography through the upcoming online safety legislation.
When taking the decision not to commence the relevant provisions in the DEA, the government concluded that there should be a coherent and comprehensive approach to protecting children online. This will be best achieved through the wider online harms proposals. The online harms regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. Taken together, we expect this to bring into scope more online pornography that children can currently access than the narrower scope of the Digital Economy Act, which did not include social media companies.
We are working at pace to develop the Online Safety Bill that will be ready this year. We are already working closely with Ofcom to ensure that the implementation period that will be necessary following passage of the legislation is as short as possible.
The reports on The Relationship Between Pornography Use and Harmful Sexual Behaviours were commissioned by a previous administration and are now available on gov.uk. The reports make it clear that there is not one single factor that leads someone to engage in harmful sexual behaviour, rather it is a combination of factors which interact with one another to differing effects on each individual. The literature review highlights that a direct causal link cannot be established between pornography and harmful sexual behaviour as this would require impractical and unethical study conditions (forced exposure to pornography).
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the impact on children and young people of not introducing age verification for accessing commercial pornographic websites before they made the announcement that they would not be introducing such verification requirements.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government will deliver the objective of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) to protect children from online pornography through the upcoming online safety legislation.
When taking the decision not to commence the relevant provisions in the DEA, the government concluded that there should be a coherent and comprehensive approach to protecting children online. This will be best achieved through the wider online harms proposals. The online harms regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. Taken together, we expect this to bring into scope more online pornography that children can currently access than the narrower scope of the Digital Economy Act, which did not include social media companies.
We are working at pace to develop the Online Safety Bill that will be ready this year. We are already working closely with Ofcom to ensure that the implementation period that will be necessary following passage of the legislation is as short as possible.
The reports on The Relationship Between Pornography Use and Harmful Sexual Behaviours were commissioned by a previous administration and are now available on gov.uk. The reports make it clear that there is not one single factor that leads someone to engage in harmful sexual behaviour, rather it is a combination of factors which interact with one another to differing effects on each individual. The literature review highlights that a direct causal link cannot be established between pornography and harmful sexual behaviour as this would require impractical and unethical study conditions (forced exposure to pornography).
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to include protections for children from accessing commercial pornographic websites which do not allow user generated content or facilitate online user interaction in any forthcoming online harms legislation; and if they have any such plans, how.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government will deliver the objective of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) to protect children from online pornography through the upcoming online safety legislation.
When taking the decision not to commence the relevant provisions in the DEA, the government concluded that there should be a coherent and comprehensive approach to protecting children online. This will be best achieved through the wider online harms proposals. The online harms regime will capture both the most visited pornography sites and pornography on social media, therefore covering the vast majority of sites where children are most likely to be exposed to pornography. Taken together, we expect this to bring into scope more online pornography that children can currently access than the narrower scope of the Digital Economy Act, which did not include social media companies.
We are working at pace to develop the Online Safety Bill that will be ready this year. We are already working closely with Ofcom to ensure that the implementation period that will be necessary following passage of the legislation is as short as possible.
The reports on The Relationship Between Pornography Use and Harmful Sexual Behaviours were commissioned by a previous administration and are now available on gov.uk. The reports make it clear that there is not one single factor that leads someone to engage in harmful sexual behaviour, rather it is a combination of factors which interact with one another to differing effects on each individual. The literature review highlights that a direct causal link cannot be established between pornography and harmful sexual behaviour as this would require impractical and unethical study conditions (forced exposure to pornography).