Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the definitions provided in the Online Safety Bill for (1) journalistic content, (2) content of democratic importance, and (3) news publisher content.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
Her Majesty’s Government is confident that the protections for recognised news publishers, journalistic content, and content of democratic importance are technically feasible and that the Bill’s definition of the relevant terms is appropriate.
Recognised news publishers’ content will be exempted from platforms’ new online safety duties. This means tech companies will be under no legal obligation to apply their new safety duties to that content. The criteria under which an organisation qualifies as a publisher are set in the Bill. When drafting these criteria, Her Majesty’s Government has taken significant care to ensure established news publishers are captured, while limiting the opportunity for others to benefit.
Category 1 service providers will also need to have clear policies relating to their treatment of journalistic content and content of democratic importance, and to ensure these are enforced consistently. Ofcom will set out further details in codes of practice about how companies can comply with these duties.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the proposed Online Safety Bill will address the availability of (1) violent, or (2) abusive, pornography online.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17 March. The Bill will require user-to-user and search services to tackle illegal content on their sites.
Revenge and extreme pornography will be listed as priority illegal offences in the Online Safety Bill. This means that companies will need to have proportionate systems and processes in place to seek out and remove this type of content or face regulatory enforcement action.
Providers of services which are likely to be accessed by children will also have additional duties to protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content such as pornography, even if it is not illegal. There will also be specific duties on providers which publish pornographic content on their services to prevent children from accessing that content.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what powers the proposed Online Safety Bill will give Ofcom (1) to investigate adult services' implementation of robust age verification, and (2) to take enforcement action where necessary.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Bill, introduced to Parliament on 17 March 2022, places duties on providers which publish or place pornographic content on their services to prevent children from accessing that content. The Online Safety Bill will not mandate the use of specific technologies to comply with their new duties, as it is vital that the Bill is future-proofed. However, it is expected that companies may use age verification technologies to prevent children from accessing online pornography.
The Bill will also give Ofcom powers to investigate potential non-compliance with the new regime, for example a failure to sufficiently prevent children from accessing pornographic content. This includes information-gathering powers. Ofcom will also be able to require individuals to attend an interview when investigating possible non-compliance.
The Bill also provides Ofcom with robust enforcement powers to take action when platforms do not comply with their obligations, including requiring improvements, imposing substantial fines, and pursuing business disruption measures (including blocking).
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of UK children who have accessed online pornography since their decision not to bring Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 into force in October 2019.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
The Online Safety Bill will go further than the Digital Economy Act 2017, protecting children from a broader range of harmful content on a wider range of services. The Digital Economy Act was criticised for not covering social media companies, through which a considerable quantity of pornographic material is accessible, and which research suggests children use to access pornography. The online safety framework will cover all online sites that offer pornography, including commercial pornography sites, social media, video-sharing platforms, fora and search engines.
HM Government has commissioned research to build the evidence base on harms to children online. This will review the prevalence and impact of a wide range of harmful content online, including pornography, to ensure that the Online Safety Bill provides comprehensive protections for children.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to monitor the effectiveness of social tariffs offered by broadband providers.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
A range of broadband social tariff packages are now available in the market to support those on low incomes or who receive specific benefits. BT, for example, recently launched a Home Essentials package which will provide fibre and voice services to those on Universal Credit starting at £15 per month. Virgin, Hyperoptic and other providers are offering similar packages to assist households on low incomes. Between them, these products are available to 99% of households across the country.
The Government continues to encourage more fixed-line providers to introduce a social tariff and we will continue to monitor the provision in the market. We will also continue to work with Ofcom, which has a statutory duty to review the affordability of telecommunication services, to do this.
In December, the Government strengthened Ofcom's consumer protection rules, to ensure that consumers can access the right information to make informed decisions about new services, have stronger contract rights, and switch providers more easily. Ofcom also published its Vulnerability Guide in July 2020, setting out how the sector should support vulnerable households struggling to pay their bills.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that broadband internet access is affordable for people in receipt of low incomes and benefits.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
A range of broadband social tariff packages are now available in the market to support those on low incomes or who receive specific benefits. BT, for example, recently launched a Home Essentials package which will provide fibre and voice services to those on Universal Credit starting at £15 per month. Virgin, Hyperoptic and other providers are offering similar packages to assist households on low incomes. Between them, these products are available to 99% of households across the country.
The Government continues to encourage more fixed-line providers to introduce a social tariff and we will continue to monitor the provision in the market. We will also continue to work with Ofcom, which has a statutory duty to review the affordability of telecommunication services, to do this.
In December, the Government strengthened Ofcom's consumer protection rules, to ensure that consumers can access the right information to make informed decisions about new services, have stronger contract rights, and switch providers more easily. Ofcom also published its Vulnerability Guide in July 2020, setting out how the sector should support vulnerable households struggling to pay their bills.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to privatise Channel 4.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
As part of its ongoing strategic review of the UK’s system of public service broadcasting, the Government launched a public consultation on the future of Channel 4, including its ownership model and remit, on 6 July 2021 .
The broadcasting landscape has changed beyond recognition since Channel 4’s creation almost 40 years ago, and it continues to change apace. Increased global competition, changing audience habits, the decline of linear advertising revenue, and a wave of consolidation in the sector all pose challenges.
The Government’s consultation seeks views and evidence on whether stakeholders agree that a new ownership model would give Channel 4 the broadest range of tools to continue to thrive as a public service broadcaster in the face of these new challenges.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect all UK citizens from online harms and misinformation.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
On 12 May 2021, we published the draft Online Safety Bill, which sets out new expectations on companies to keep their users safe online. Companies will have to enforce their promises to users, remove criminal content from their sites, and protect children from harmful content including misinformation. The biggest companies will have duties on legal content that may cause significant physical or psychological harm to adults, including mis/disinformation such as anti-vaccination content and falsehoods about COVID-19.
The Bill will strengthen Ofcom’s existing duty to promote media literacy to build audience resilience to mis/disinformation and support users’ critical thinking skills. Ofcom will also be required to set up an advisory committee to build understanding and technical knowledge on how to tackle mis/disinformation.
The government is currently tackling mis/disinformation through the Cross-Whitehall Counter-Disinformation Unit, which develops a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and the reach of mis/disinformation, and works with social media platforms to ensure appropriate action is taken in line with their terms of service.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support charities help rebuild civil society after COVID-19.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government has provided a multi-billion-pound package of support for Britain's charities to continue their vital work, and mitigate the risks created by the pandemic.
Charities continue to benefit from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and many will have benefited from government grants where they have been required to close non-essential retail. This support is in addition to the £750 million targeted support package that was made available to support charities and social enterprises to maintain and reshape vital services.
Guidance has been made available on a range of activities that will be relevant to charities and social enterprises, including organised events and grassroots sport and sports facilities. We have also worked with the Institute of Fundraising and Fundraising Regulator to support the development of guidance on the safe return to fundraising activities.
We continue to monitor sector health closely. The government is working with charity sector representatives to support a strong and resilient charity sector.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had about children's participation in sport and physical activity; and with whom those discussions took place.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people have the best opportunities to engage in sport and physical activity. We work closely with Sport England to review and increase children’s participation in sport and physical activity. We also regularly engage with a wide range of sport sector organisations on this issue.
The Government hosted school sport roundtable meetings in March and June of this year. Both meetings were attended by Sport England and a number of sport sector organisations, including national governing bodies. These discussions focused on getting our children and young people active again as we recover from the pandemic, as well as developing a long term strategy for school sport and physical activity.