Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to introduce an individual right of redress against online platforms.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Act contains strong user redress provisions. Complaints procedures must be accessible, easy to use and transparent, and providers must take appropriate action. Ofcom is able to use its enforcement powers in cases of non-compliance by platforms.
The Act requires Ofcom to review the effectiveness of these provisions within two years of their full implementation. With new duties coming into effect for Category 1 services next year, we expect the report to be completed in 2029.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when Schedule 14 (Intimate image material: reporting and registration) of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will commence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Schedule 14 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 – which enables the Secretary of State to make regulations relating to the reporting and registration of intimate image material - commenced on 29 June 2026, following Royal Assent on 29 April 2026.
The Government scoping exercise on the creation of a register of non-consensual intimate images is underway, and secondary legislation will follow in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when section 66AE inserted into the Sexual Offences Act 2003 by paragraph 3 of Schedule 13 Part 1 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 pertaining to creating a copy of intimate photograph or film shared temporarily will commence.
Answered by Baroness Levitt
Section 66AE of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, as inserted by Part 1 of Schedule 13 to the Crime and Policing Act 2026, creates an offence of making a copy of an intimate photograph or film shared temporarily and will be commenced by regulations as soon as reasonably practicable. We must ensure that there is sufficient time to consider and manage the effect on the criminal justice system and for law enforcement to update guidance and train prosecutors and police officers.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring the sharing of non-consensual AI-generated intimate images by chatbots into scope of the image-based abuse offences under section 66D of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Answered by Baroness Levitt
Section 66D of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides information on how to interpret the “sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film” offences in section 66B. Section 66D(2) states, “A person “shares” something if the person, by any means, gives or shows it to another person or makes it available to another person.”
“By any means” would include the sharing of such images without consent using digital tools such as a chatbot, app or other software, if a person has requested or prompted the digital tool to do so, whether as part of the creation of the image or as a separate act.
Section 98 and Section 102 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will be commenced by regulations as soon as reasonably practicable. We must ensure that there is sufficient time to consider and manage the impact on the criminal justice system and for law enforcement to update guidance as well as train prosecutors and police officers.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when section 98 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 pertaining to offences relating to semen-defaced images, intimate photographs or films and voyeurism will commence.
Answered by Baroness Levitt
Section 66D of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides information on how to interpret the “sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film” offences in section 66B. Section 66D(2) states, “A person “shares” something if the person, by any means, gives or shows it to another person or makes it available to another person.”
“By any means” would include the sharing of such images without consent using digital tools such as a chatbot, app or other software, if a person has requested or prompted the digital tool to do so, whether as part of the creation of the image or as a separate act.
Section 98 and Section 102 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will be commenced by regulations as soon as reasonably practicable. We must ensure that there is sufficient time to consider and manage the impact on the criminal justice system and for law enforcement to update guidance as well as train prosecutors and police officers.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government when section 102 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 pertaining to image deletion orders will commence.
Answered by Baroness Levitt
Section 66D of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides information on how to interpret the “sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film” offences in section 66B. Section 66D(2) states, “A person “shares” something if the person, by any means, gives or shows it to another person or makes it available to another person.”
“By any means” would include the sharing of such images without consent using digital tools such as a chatbot, app or other software, if a person has requested or prompted the digital tool to do so, whether as part of the creation of the image or as a separate act.
Section 98 and Section 102 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 will be commenced by regulations as soon as reasonably practicable. We must ensure that there is sufficient time to consider and manage the impact on the criminal justice system and for law enforcement to update guidance as well as train prosecutors and police officers.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government when section 100 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 pertaining to the 48-hour take-down requirement for intimate image content will commence.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Section 100 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which introduces a new requirement relating to the removal of reported non-consensual intimate images, commenced on 29 June 2026. The Online Safety Act 2023 provides for Ofcom to prepare and issue codes of practice setting out recommended measures for compliance with relevant duties.
The duty will apply to platforms once the relevant codes have completed the statutory process and come into force. The Government is clear this should happen as soon as possible and is working closely with Ofcom on implementation.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to bring the requests for and creation of non-consensual intimate images from a chatbot into the scope of the image-based abuse offences under sections 66E and 66F of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Answered by Baroness Levitt
Section 66E of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 provides for the offence of creating a purported (or ‘deepfake’) intimate image of an adult without their consent or reasonable belief in their consent.
The offence applies regardless of the tool used to create the purported intimate image, so includes the creation of such images without consent using digital tools such as a “chatbot”, a nudification app, or image manipulation software.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to bring requesting and creating non-consensual intimate images into the scope of the image-based abuse offences in sections 66E and 66F of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Answered by Baroness Levitt
It is an offence to create, or request the creation of, a purported (or ‘deepfake’) intimate image of an adult without their consent or reasonable belief in their consent, under Sections 66E and 66F of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Under sections 44 to 46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, it is an offence to assist or encourage the commission of another offence, including offences of taking or recording, or sharing, an intimate image without consent or reasonable belief in consent.
The Government is committed to halving violence against women and girls, including online and image-based abuse, within a decade. Sections 66B to 66H of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 provide a range of offences for tackling intimate image abuse, with new offences being inserted by the Crime and Policing Act 2026. As part of our VAWG action plan we will be launching a call for evidence to better understand online misogynistic image-based abuse and the extent to which there are new harms and behaviour which may not be fully captured by existing criminal offences.
Asked by: Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is in place to help (1) victims of technology-facilitated abuse, and (2) the police, to secure evidence of victims' past reporting of such abuse from the relevant technology companies.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is investing £550 million over the next three years for victim and witness support services.
The 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice’s victim and witness budget to commission local support services for victims of all crimes, including victims of technology-facilitated abuse. PCCs allocate funding for victim services at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need.
In addition, the Ministry of Justice provides Victim Support with grant funding to deliver a 24/7 Live Chat and My Support Space service, providing free online support to victims across England and Wales.