Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to hold social media platforms to account for enabling offences involving catfishing; and how they plan to ensure that social media platforms protect children.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The impact of ‘catfishing’ can be devastating for victims. Under the Online Safety Act all in-scope services will need to protect users from illegal content and criminal behaviour, including communications offences such as the false communications offence.
In addition, those services that are likely to be accessed by children will need to take steps to protect child users from content which is harmful. Ofcom will have robust powers enforce to against companies who do not comply with their duties
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of catfishing on users of social media platforms.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The impact of ‘catfishing’ can be devastating for victims. Under the Online Safety Act all in-scope services will need to protect users from illegal content and criminal behaviour, including communications offences such as the false communications offence.
In addition, those services that are likely to be accessed by children will need to take steps to protect child users from content which is harmful. Ofcom will have robust powers enforce to against companies who do not comply with their duties
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in determining the eligible entity criteria and procedural requirements for the Online Safety Act 2023's super-complaints function; and when they will introduce the regulations to bring it into effect.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government consulted on the eligible entity criteria and procedural requirements for the super-complaints’ regime under the Online Safety Act 2023 earlier this year. We are carefully considering responses to the consultation to inform secondary legislation, which we intend to lay in spring next year.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will make an assessment of proposals to use tax deterrents for social media service providers as a measure to address harmful speech, as proposed by Dr Mihaela Popa-Wyatt from the University of Manchester.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to protect users; this includes taking action against illegal content, such as harassment, and protecting children from harmful content. Ofcom is the regulator for this regime. It will have strong enforcement powers where providers fail to comply with their duties. It will be able to 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 worldwide annual revenue.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that misogyny and the language of gender-based violence is regulated and removed from online platforms.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Online Safety Act requires all services in scope of the regime to proactively tackle and prevent users from being exposed to the most harmful illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls. Illegal content includes harassment, stalking, and controlling or coercive behaviour. Under the Act, services over the designated threshold will also need to remove certain types of legal content, such as content that is abusive on the basis of sex or gender, where it is prohibited in their terms of service. Companies will need to have effective, accessible mechanisms in place for users to be able to report abuse and receive an appropriate response from the platform.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to protect small digital technology and online news companies from competition from big technology digital companies.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting the growth and dynamism of the digital technology sector and the sustainability of the online press sector. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will establish new, faster and effective tools to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms.
The new legislation will equip the Competition and Markets Authority to address both the causes and consequences of market power in digital markets, and make sure tech start-ups are able to enter and grow in new markets. It will also help rebalance the relationship between major platforms and those who rely on them, including press publishers, through tailored conduct requirements and pro-competition interventions. We anticipate the Bill will receive Royal Assent in spring this year. This is subject to Parliamentary time and scrutiny.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to UK life sciences and investment in the innovation pipeline to build on recent successes such as the development of a malaria vaccine by the Oxford-based Jenner Institute.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK has an exceptional life sciences sector, and the UK Government is committed to supporting it. We work closely with industry, including through strategic partnerships, such as the 10-year partnership with Moderna and strategic collaboration with BioNTech, delivering innovation to UK patients.
Following the Life Sciences Vision launched in 2022, we announced in May a further £650m to drive growth and bring innovative treatments to the NHS, including £121m to improve commercial clinical trials, £48m for a new biomanufacturing fund, and £154m to increase the capacity of the UK Biobank.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to develop the skills in the UK to translate research outcomes into real-world applications, particularly in the fields of health and technology, (2) to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration in this area, and (3) to enhance the availability of specialized training and skill development programmes that cater to the needs of researchers and professionals engaged in translating research into commercial applications.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring research is translated into real-world impact. For example, providing over £100 million over the next three years for Impact Acceleration Accounts and £37.5 million this year for translating medical research through the Medical Research Council’s Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme. Government is providing £350 million for technology missions to translate research into transformative applications across four critical technologies and investing £65 million in an interdisciplinary research call. Through Research England’s £280 million Higher Education Innovation Fund and its Connecting Capabilities Fund, Government is funding skills development, including entrepreneurship training, for researchers and commercialisation professionals.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support young and emerging scientists, including those whose research is contributing to the treatment and eradication of malaria and other infectious diseases.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Early-career researchers are at the heart of securing the UK’s place as a global science superpower, and that is why the Government is working with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on a New Deal for Postgraduate Research. As part of this work, UKRI recently announced a 5.4% uplift to the minimum stipend for UKRI-funded students for the academic year 2023/24.
UKRI’s Medical Research Council (MRC) invests around £85 million annually to support around 1,600 PhD students. The MRC Unit at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was awarded £2.8 million between 2022-2027 to fund studentships, with the majority focused on infectious diseases, including malaria.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the marine science community about the future of the UK’s involvement in Horizon Europe.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government continues to be ready to work constructively with the EU on a range of issues including UK association to Horizon Europe.
The Department has socialised plans on alternatives to Horizon with the marine science sector in June and December 2022 roundtables during their development. We will continue to put the interests of businesses and researchers across the UK, including in the marine science community, first so they can take forward ground-breaking research and drive forward innovation with their international partners.