Social Media: Catfishing

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address ‘catfishing’ on social media platforms.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Information and Technology (Baroness Jones of Whitchurch) (Lab)]

My Lords, the impact of catfishing can be devastating for victims, but the online world is not a lawless environment. Already, if you commit a crime online, you will face the consequences. Social media companies also have a clear responsibility to keep people safe on their platforms. The Online Safety Act will provide additional protections requiring platforms to take action to protect users from illegal content and activity that is harmful to children online.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her Answer. Only last Friday in the High Court in Belfast, a man from Northern Ireland was sentenced for the manslaughter of a child from North America he had groomed and targeted. As a result of that, she took her own life. There were many other examples of his online bullying, amounting to over 3,000. Therefore, I would like some assurances from my noble friend. What steps are the Government taking to sanction social media platforms such as Meta, which fail properly to monitor contact and access to adult sites by children under 16, in the context of the Online Safety Act? Will any new legislation or statutory regulations be required to update the legislation in respect of last week’s legal matter?

Medical Product Liability

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 16th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I understand that my noble friend Lady Merron is planning to engage with those groups representing the patients who have been affected and to follow up on The Hughes Report and listen to their experiences. We will be contacting those groups in due course.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, do my noble friend the Minister and ministerial colleagues in her department and the Department of Health intend to meet the Patient Safety Commissioner in the interim, while these issues are being discussed? As the noble Baroness has said, these particular issues to do with breast implants and other medical devices have, in some areas, been found to be deficient.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, we very much welcome the appointment of Dr Henrietta Hughes as the Patient Safety Commissioner. We have been looking at the details of her work and hope to come back in due course, particularly on the report that she produced in February. I understand that my noble friend Lady Merron has already met the Patient Safety Commissioner; she has been on a joint visit with her and plans to meet her again in the future.

Independent Pornography Review

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, the review is looking at this important area of work within its terms of reference, and obviously, we are very interested in its recommendations. I say to the noble Baroness, though, that alignment between the online and offline world is not as straightforward as it might seem, given the volume and spread of content online. Nevertheless, it is an important aspiration and we look forward to hearing what the review will say in guiding us forward on this issue.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her response so far. In a previous debate on this issue, I raised the need for robustness from Ofcom. Therefore, will she outline what action the Government will take to ensure that Ofcom acts in a more robust form and, if it does not, what action the Government will then take?

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her question. We are absolutely determined to keep children safe online and to use the Online Safety Act to provide protection across all the categories under its jurisdiction. Ofcom’s draft guidance lays out which technologies could constitute, for example, highly effective age assurance to protect children, and it will have a full range of enforcement powers to take action against companies that do not follow the duties, including substantial fines. I absolutely agree with my noble friend that robustness is key here. I think some people are frustrated that some of the duties in the Online Safety Act are taking time to be rolled out, but it was a feature of the Act that it would be done on that basis. We are very keen, as everybody in the House is, to see it enacted in full as soon as it can be.

Post Office Horizon: Redress

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 10th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes a very fair point. We do have a number of schemes with different eligibility criteria. We are doing everything we can to standardise them and to make sure that people are treated fairly. Of course, people are at different stages in the process. Some have already started their applications, while others have yet to do so. We are doing everything we can to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and in the way they should be, following this terrible scandal.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her very detailed Statement in relation to this egregious issue that goes back so many years. So many sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted and wrongly maligned.

Will sub-postmasters in Northern Ireland be eligible to apply to this appeals system? They were similarly affected and some of them were similarly prosecuted. Also, some sub-postmasters have said to me that the original compensation scheme has been too slow in reaching them. So I would like assurances that the appeals system, where it applies, is acted on expeditiously.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

Again, my noble friend makes a very important point about speed. I think I have reiterated that we absolutely get and understand that message. I hope that, when people come to look back on the actions we have taken, further delays will not be one of the criticisms that come to mind, because I really feel that we are acting at the absolute top rate that we possibly can.

With regard to where there are specific arrangements in Northern Ireland, I apologise that I do not know the answer to that. I will write to the noble Baroness.

Online Safety Legislation: Abuse on Social Media

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the ability of current online safety legislation to regulate abuse, including racism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and sectarianism, on social media platforms.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Jones of Whitchurch) (Lab)]

My Lords, as my noble friend will know, we take these issues very seriously. The Online Safety Act will tackle illegal abuse, protect children and empower users. Regulated providers, including social media companies, must implement systems to reduce the risk that their services are used for illegal activity, including illegal abuse. Under the Act, stirring up hatred is a priority offence, requiring providers to proactively combat illegal racism, Islamophobia, homophobia and sectarianism.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her detailed Answer. What consideration have the Government given to the flourishing of hate content on smaller online platforms, which they have the power to regulate under the highest tier of regulation: category 1 under Schedule 11 to the Online Safety Act? Are the Government minded to reject Ofcom’s advice not to use the powers available to them under the Act to do so?

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, we share my noble friend’s concern about the flourishing of hate crime on these sites and particularly on smaller online platforms. The Secretary of State for DSIT is carefully considering Ofcom’s categorisation recommendations and will make regulations as soon as reasonably practical. He can decide to proceed with Ofcom’s advice or divert from it. If the latter approach is taken, a statement must be published explaining why.

Horizon Scandal: Psychological Support Services

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 4th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, sub-postmasters in Northern Ireland are, so far, not eligible for the legislation that would exonerate them. What discussions have taken place with the Northern Ireland Executive to bring forward legislation to ensure that sub-postmasters will be eligible for that exoneration legislation at a very early opportunity? I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Dobbs, that many sub-postmasters in Northern Ireland have suffered in the most egregious way. They need relief at a very early opportunity.

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question. Obviously, Northern Ireland has a separate legal system, as does Scotland. The legislation coming before the House is immediately pertinent to England and Wales, and covers around 770 of the 983 convictions. There are live and active discussions with the legal systems in both Northern Ireland and Scotland, which are being helped considerably by the Executive sitting again in Northern Ireland. Both those jurisdictions need to be respected and we will work at speed to get the right treatment across the United Kingdom while respecting the different legal jurisdictions.

Post Office Horizon Scandal: Compensation Payments

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Monday 19th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

As I have said, a detailed Statement on this will be given in the other place, and there will also be transcripts and meeting notes put in the House of Commons Library for full interrogation. It is clear that there were very serious concerns about governance. The noble Lord himself mentioned a toxic culture in the earlier Question on this issue, and the Government’s requirement to clean it up and change it. The most important figure on any board of any company is the chair, and, if the culture is wrong, perhaps the best place to start would be to remove the chair, which is what has happened. A full Statement will be given as to the circumstances of that, but it was not done on a whim and it was not a summary dismissal.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, ordinary sub-postmasters throughout the UK have had their integrity and reputation impacted upon. I was talking to one of those people this afternoon, from Northern Ireland. They are part of the 33% who have not yet received payment and their simple question is: when will those outstanding payments be made to sub-postmasters?

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

The Government can go only as fast as the claims come in. Take as an example the GLO 555: 477 of them do not have any convictions. Of those 477, 58 have submitted a claim, of which an offer has been made to 48 and 41 have accepted. We cannot go any faster; we can go only at the speed at which claims are made.

Horizon: Compensation and Convictions

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 10th January 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, in the other place today, Minister Kevin Hollinrake said that engagement with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Administrations would take place. How will that happen in Northern Ireland whenever there are no political institutions up and running? Who will the Government actually engage with, since post offices are very much the financial hub, and have been over the last 20 years, particularly in rural communities?

[Lord Offord of Garvel (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for that point, which is well made. We have to work with the situation we find ourselves in, and this has to be moved along at great speed. I am happy to write, as I do not know the exact answer to that question in detail, but I do know that conversations and dialogue happen between the MoJ and those in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. I am happy to find out more about the precise mechanics of that.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 5th December 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond. I welcome the Bill, but there are some improvements that the Government could bring forward to provide better protection against the big tech giants. I feel that many of today’s arguments have coalesced around several points. The Bill deals with various aspects, and there are concerns that it does not contain any explicit environmental content. Reference has already been made to that. It makes no progress in plugging the gap in environmental reporting of food and drink products, it does nothing to extend repair as a consumer right, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, indicated, and there are issues around gift aid. All that needs to be addressed.

However, I want to concentrate this evening on the need for the Government to strengthen the legislation through government-based amendments introduced at Committee or Report to enable better and more effective regulation for big technology companies. Undoubtedly the Bill can launch a ground-breaking framework to regulate a remarkably unbalanced digital marketplace in the UK. It is a market in which tech giants such as Alphabet and Meta hold near-complete control over every aspect of nearly every online transaction. While digital technology has given journalists new opportunities to engage with the communities that they cover, the dominant tech firms have positioned themselves as central intermediaries, through which most news content must pass to reach citizens. This allows them to capture data about the use of the content by consumers, sell advertising based on that use, and capture value created by news and information firms. They hoard a lion’s share of advertising revenue, nearly 80% of the digital advertising market, as well as valuable user data generated for them by news providers, while the providers struggle to keep their lights on. I have seen examples of that in Northern Ireland.

With that system in place, the news publishers that have to interact with the giants lose out, especially those that are locally owned and operated. When they suffer, their audiences—citizens right across the UK—lose out as well. The independent news sector online is made up of several hundred publishers. Millions of residents in hard-to-reach local communities, such as those in distinct rural communities in Northern Ireland, rely on them for fact-checked and trustworthy information about all facets of their lives. It is a sector that has been given many reasons to feel as if it was abandoned by the UK’s policymakers. With appropriate policy measures, it also stands to gain the most out of our action. Using proper interventions, we can allow it to continue enriching the lives and democratic participation of the UK’s communities at every level.

In 2022, the Public Interest News Foundation estimated the UK independent news sector’s total revenue at £20 million to £40 million. In the same year, take note that Google and Meta generated an estimated £16.1 billion in UK advertising revenue. We should contemplate that contrast in resources. According to Press Gazette, the overall digital advertising market in the UK grew this year, but none of the fresh spoils will go to the publishers working diligently to inform the public. Undoubtedly, this system must be remedied; with certain amendments and considerations, this Bill can sit among a much-needed set of holistic interventions. It can help to introduce sustainability to the news industry, and in particular help the independent online news sector to survive and flourish. In many instances, it is providing local news content to local communities.

The Bill should allow the CMA to use the final offer mechanism more flexibly and earlier in the regulatory process; reduce the potential to politicise regulation by limiting the vast oversight powers given to the Secretary of State over the Digital Markets Unit; allow for countervailing benefits to users to be considered at the many consultation and investigation stages of regulation instead of being used as a “get out of jail free” card by tech giants; promote a competitive and pluralistic UK press by instructing the CMA to consider citizens’ rights as it regulates the digital marketplace; ensure that as many actors as possible can trade with SMS firms on fair and reasonable terms by mandating transparency with the regulator and, when appropriate, the market; and ensure that the expanded merits-based appeal to penalties imposed on SMS firms does not undermine appropriate regulatory decisions made after due process at earlier stages in the new framework.

I hope that the Minister will reflect on those suggested proposals for amendments in this sector and consider bringing them forward in Committee or, failing that, on Report. Such amendments would enable and bring about an improvement to the Bill, put certain checks in place in respect of the big tech companies and provide for their better regulation, which is urgently required. I urge the Minister today to reflect on those proposals and provide answers and some direction about the next steps from the Government.

Northern Ireland Investment Summit

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Thursday 23rd November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I must say that I am delighted that my friend the noble Lord, Lord Fox, from the Liberal Democrat Benches is rejoicing and celebrating the benefits of Brexit, because that is exactly what the Windsor Framework delivers. It puts Northern Ireland in a unique place to benefit precisely from the regulatory environments and frameworks that we have in this nation, while at the same accessing the goods and markets in the European Union.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, coming from Northern Ireland, I am well aware of the success of the investment conference and the large number of investors who came from the United States, along with the economic envoy, Joe Kennedy III. However, would the Minister agree that it would be much better if there was a restoration of the political institutions to underpin our local economy in Northern Ireland and provide that necessary confidence to potential investors? Will the Minister, along with Invest NI, investigate the need for a more equal distribution of those potential investors looking at sites in Northern Ireland with a view to further investments and job opportunities to avail themselves of the Windsor Framework and access to both markets?

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I completely agree with the noble Baroness on the need to come to a conclusion over forming a stable political environment for businesses to invest in Northern Ireland. I reassure her that the United States is not the only market that invests heavily in Northern Ireland. Across the world, particularly in Asian countries such as Japan, there is enormous interest in taking advantage of the skills in Northern Ireland. It is not simply the opportunities presented by the Windsor Framework; it is the opportunities presented by the people of Northern Ireland and their brains and brilliance.