Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle non-compliance regarding removal of non-consensual content from websites that host image-based abuse material.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Online Safety Act gives online user-to-user services new duties to implement systems and processes to reduce the risks of their services being used to facilitate certain ‘priority’ kinds of offending. It also requires providers to take down illegal content when it does appear. These duties extend to intimate image abuse (IIA) content. This is a priority kind of offending under the Act. Ofcom will have strong enforcement powers where platforms fail to comply with their duties for IIA content. It can impose significant fines and, where appropriate, business disruption measures on non-compliant platforms. It can fine companies up to £18 million or 10% of their qualifying global annual revenue.