Social Media: Offensive Material

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My noble friend is quite right and the framework will aim to protect all users, particularly children and vulnerable users. As for hitting the pocket, she may be aware that the maximum fine that can be levied in future will be 10% of global turnover.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

Footballers, women sports commentators and public figures generally receive daily racist, homophobic, misogynist vile abuse and personal threats inciting hatred and physical attacks. The Minister has promised that the Government will act against this in the online harms legislation. Players and commentators alike have acted against abuse but they need support. When will the Government bring forward their Bill; are they waiting for the Law Commission; what will its scope be in tackling abuse; will its codes be voluntary or statutory; what powers will Ofcom have to act; and will the Bill contain measures removing the anonymity of abusers, difficult though that may be, who post abusive material?

British Library Board (Power to Borrow) Bill

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 19th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I declare my interests as a trustee of Brighton’s wonderful Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust, which now runs our museums and the Royal Pavilion service, and as a co-chair of the People’s History Museum in Manchester, which houses an important national collection. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Vaizey, on his tour de force of British Library statistics in the form of facts, figures and general info. It was a wonderful introduction to this very uncontroversial Bill.

It has taken just under a year for the Bill to clear its Commons stages and make it to your Lordships’ House today, so I would guess that the journey to further financial freedoms and the ability to borrow has been stretched out. But given the long history of progress towards this point, from the original Act in 1972, I suppose we should be pleased at that. We hope that our considerations will be swifter, allowing the change the Bill proposes on to the statute book before the end of the Session.

This is a short but important Bill. As other colleagues have noted, it implements a key recommendation of the Mendoza review of national museums: to bring the rights of the British Library into line with the 15 DCMS-sponsored national museums, and to enable it to borrow money both privately and from the Government. The British Library, as we have heard from all the speakers in the debate, is a proud British institution with bases in London and in Boston Spa, in Yorkshire. We also of course support the development that is to take place in Leeds, creating a big northern presence and contributing towards the levelling-up agenda.

As well as allowing access to books and reading rooms, the British Library hosts a range of exhibitions, runs school visits and has a large outreach programme, all of which we support. While many people think of the British Library as being London-centric, as the noble Lord, Lord Vaizey, commented, its Boston Spa site hosts some 70% of the entire collection, as well as offering public reading room facilities. It also supports around 600 local jobs, which has no small economic impact. The institution undertakes important partnership work with libraries across the UK, as well as working internationally. As an exemplar of soft power, I can think of nothing better. Also, with its range of digitalisation and preservation of professional exchange initiatives, it leads in its field. After a year of the Covid-19 pandemic limiting its earning potential, the ambition to expand further and the ability to access funds from other sources are arguably more important than ever.

I share some of the concerns raised by the noble Lord, Lord Eatwell, about the potential corrupting impact of it being taken further into the commercial world of borrowing, but my and my party’s primary concern is that we did not receive an assurance from the Minister in another place that the British Library’s ability to borrow money will not become a justification for the Government reducing grant funding further. I hope that the Minister can reassure us on that point. With that, I give this Bill our party’s blessing.

Office of Communications: Chair

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government have been very clear about the value of the BBC, particularly in the pandemic, during which it has served to educate, inspire, inform and act as a crucial and reliable source of news.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

Several noble Lords have already referred to Ofcom’s expanding remit and the additional responsibilities to be introduced through the online safety Bill and the challenges they will bring. What conversations has the Minister had through her department with Ofcom’s new chief executive about the body’s current and future resourcing? Can she assure us that the various changes envisaged in the forthcoming legislation will be accompanied by commensurate increases in staffing budgets, training opportunities and, vitally, political support?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord raises a very important point. Work is already starting within Ofcom to recruit the appropriate skills and experience that will be needed to deliver on the online safety regime, including the recent recruitment of a head of emerging technologies from Google.

Music and Performing Arts Students: Visas and Work Permits

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Thursday 11th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Baroness asks a very specific question. As I mentioned, our rules around visiting this country for creative professionals, which would include teachers, are more generous than in the vast majority of EU member states. If there is further to add on that, I will write to the noble Baroness.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, before this year, music and performing arts students participated in study or cultural exchanges under Erasmus. This allowed them to develop the skills and build the networks that bring success in the creative industries sector. Published details of the Government’s Turing replacement scheme suggest no tuition fee support and significantly lower cost of living grants. Does the Minister believe that this meets the test of rewarding raw talent rather than financial background, and will she agree to talk to her DfE counterparts and discuss the double whammy these proposals represent as a barrier to UK cultural engagement in Europe?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am more than happy to talk to my DfE counterparts. I do not think we accept the suggestion that the noble Lord makes. The Turing scheme is going to be open to about 35,000 students in universities, colleges and schools to allow them to go on placements and exchanges overseas, starting this September. He is right that we will also seek to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. I am sure he agrees with me that that is also an important priority.

Video-sharing Platforms: BBFC Ratings

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Thursday 4th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I assure the noble Viscount that they will be set out in the legislation. Ofcom will have wide-ranging powers to tackle both illegal and harmful content. I am happy to write to him with more detail.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

In December, the Minister spoke of the voluntary nature of the BBFC scheme, which she reminded us of earlier for video-on-demand services. One of the strengths of the BBFC’s ratings is that they are well understood by parents and children alike. The same cannot be said for the inconsistent approaches adopted by platforms offering user-generated content. How do the Government plan to balance the undeniable need for change, to which noble Lords have referred, with their wish to minimise regulation, which is clearly not working at the moment?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord will be aware that the adoption of BBFC ratings, particularly by Netflix, is a relatively recent development, so we have not yet made an assessment of its impact on both accessibility of content and other streaming services. As I said to my noble friend Lord Grade, we are keeping this under review.

Australia: News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Thursday 25th February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government believe that social media companies must be held to account for the consistent and transparent enforcement of their terms and conditions for those using their sites. That includes online safety, to which the noble Baroness referred, but also protecting people’s freedom of speech. We are establishing a regime through the online safety Bill and the digital markets unit that will do this transparently.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, events in Australia highlight the right and importance of Governments acting to ensure that online platforms recognise the value of reliable news content. Would the Minister outline for the House the principles that will inform the Government’s approach to regulatory legislation as set out in the upcoming online safety Bill, and spell out what measures are being considered to outlaw online disinformation campaigns—fake news—and how this will be balanced with the need to protect free speech exemptions for journalists and writers?

Covid-19: Performing Arts Freelance Workers

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Wednesday 10th February 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government are making every effort to co-ordinate with the sector and hear from it directly about the impacts. I shall give my noble friend two examples: we have established steering groups for both indoor venues and outdoor events and festivals, and are working closely with a number of sector bodies across music and the arts. If there are particular groups that he thinks we should be listening to more, I invite him to get in touch.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I am beginning to wish I had brought some freelancers along to sing “Happy Birthday”, rather than ask a question. However, given that the spring Budget is fast approaching, will DCMS Ministers now lobby the Chancellor to admit the mistakes of the past and accept and correct the injustice of excluding so many of our hard-working freelancers in the cultural industries from the Government’s Covid-19 support schemes? I also urge them to take advantage of the fact that we are entering the new tax year.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I cannot accept the noble Lord’s criticism of the Government’s action, which has been speedy, generous, broad and effective. Of course we keep it under review, but it is unparalleled in its generosity.

Grassroots Sporting Fixtures and Facilities

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Monday 11th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As the noble Baroness knows, my colleagues within the department are constantly in conversation with other parts of the sport and leisure sector. We announced a £100 million support package for local authority leisure centres and continue to work on plans in that area.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, competitive sport below the elite level faces continued disruption due to the current lockdown, so given the evidence that other noble Lords have referred to—that earlier lockdowns led to a falling off of participation in sports—what plans have the Government got to develop a national sports recovery plan? Will the Minister commit to ensuring early consultation with all the relevant sports organisations in developing a recovery plan, so that we can get our nation playing again? Will the Government look at financial support, further to the winter survival package which was announced prior to Christmas, covering sports affected by the ban on spectators?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I can only agree with the noble Lord about the importance of keeping our nation active and those involved in sport having a chance to continue to do so. That is why we have kept those restricted options open, as I referred to already, on public land, which has not been the case in some other areas. Obviously, there are initiatives such as Join the Movement from Sport England. I reassure the noble Lord that we are in constant consultation with the key governing bodies about the future of sport and the funding required.

Gambling and Lotteries

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for repeating this important Statement. Before turning to the detail, I note that it is becoming increasingly common for there to be a significant gap between the Commons Statements and our repeat of them. This is regrettable; I hope it will be addressed as we move into the new year.

The launch of this call for evidence on the effectiveness of gambling legislation is a welcome step, even if it has come much later than we on the Opposition Benches would have liked. As the Secretary of State said, advances in technology and shifts in how we live on a day-to-day basis mean that current regulation reflects a very different reality to the one we now live in. This consultation exercise represents a significant first step in recognising and responding to this challenge.

While high street betting shops must abide by a variety of rules, the regulatory picture for digital platforms is very different. In recent months we have seen some companies reducing their presence on the high street, but we know that online gambling is growing. Government initiatives in this area, while welcome, have been piecemeal. Industry bodies have taken steps to promote responsible gambling, including through November’s Safer Gambling Week, but we know that loopholes exist and are causing considerable damage.

With digital services there is the added challenge of jurisdiction, with some service providers registered outside the UK and therefore not currently within our regulatory orbit. We have discussed this very challenge recently in the context of audio-visual service providers and potential regulatory gaps arising from EU exit. Without prejudging the outcomes of the consultation and the next steps in the process, I hope the Minister can at least confirm that the department is cognisant of the issue. As I alluded to previously, we have been awaiting this project for some time. As with other policy areas such as online harms, we know that delays can result in genuine social costs. Can the Minister shed light on why it has taken so long to get to this point and outline the anticipated timescale beyond the consultation end date, which I believe is 31 March? While the technicalities involved in gambling regulation clearly necessitate a dedicated consultation and future legislation, it is nevertheless important not to look at these issues in isolation. For example, we know that adopting a public health-focused approach to gambling addiction could bring significant benefits to sufferers and their families.

The Statement cites work being undertaken by the Department of Health and Social Care to improve the support and treatment available to problem gamblers. We welcome this, but can the Minister confirm that the Department of Health and Social Care will be part of the broader regulatory discussions to ensure that future legislation supports, rather than undermines, its work on treatment?

There is a clear overlap between this gambling review and the Government’s wider online harms agenda, which, I am afraid to say, seems to have ground to a halt. By any conceivable measure, the DCMS is failing to protect people online. There is no draft online harms legislation to scrutinise and few indications of when it will arrive, or in what form. Can the Minister outline the state of play in relation to this? Can we expect to see concrete legislative proposals by Easter, for example?

We know that the department recently missed a statutory deadline under the Data Protection Act to provide provision relating to victims, including child victims, of data breaches. This news was broken to a select few noble Lords in correspondence on the day of the deadline. Can the Minister confirm why this milestone was missed and when the review is expected finally to take place?

While she is gazing into her crystal ball, perhaps the Minister might also provide news on the fan-led review of football governance. Given the close and important relationship between sports clubs and the gambling industry, it is crucial that these workstreams happen simultaneously, rather than sequentially. The Commons Minister said that work is under way on an informed basis, with the formal review to come as soon as possible. However, one Minister at the department told the Commons Select Committee to expect a consultation on the Electronic Communications Code this side of Christmas, whereas the noble Baroness told my noble friend Lord Stevenson of Balmacara on 10 December that timings were “still to be finalised”.

I apologise for failing to spread any festive cheer with this contribution, but all these issues are incredibly important. I appreciate that this has been a challenging year in many respects for government and for all, and I hope very much that 2021 will see us making meaningful progress on all fronts.

[Lord Foster of Bath (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I too thank the Minister for providing the opportunity to debate this Statement.

Since serving on the Commons committee that considered the Gambling Act 2005, I have seen the huge growth in gambling in this country brought about by that Act and by technological change, not least with the advent of the smartphone, enabling anyone to have 24/7 access to a mini-casino in their pocket, with high-speed games designed to keep people playing. With its spread throughout sport and television, children are seeing gambling as part of everyday life. The gambling industry and its profits have grown exponentially but, most worryingly, 60% of those profits are coming from just 5% of gamblers—those likely to be experiencing harm.

More recently, serving on the Lords committee on gambling, I received very clear evidence of the urgent need for action—not least that described in the committee’s 66 recommendations—from a statutory smart levy on the industry and a statutory duty of care to much stronger regulation of advertising and controls on affordability. Those recommendations, many of which do not need primary legislation, have widespread support in your Lordships’ House, as demonstrated by the nearly 150 Peers who have joined Peers for Gambling Reform, which I have the honour to chair and which seeks early implementation of those recommendations, so that those who wish to gamble can do so safely.

The urgency is illustrated by the figures. There are nearly half a million problem gamblers—probably more—including over 60,000 11 to 16 year-olds, with each problem gambler impacting the lives of family, friends and local communities, and, most tragically, on average, one gambling-related suicide every day.

So although I welcome the review, will the Minister assure me that in those areas where overwhelming evidence for change exists, the Government will take action immediately? Sadly, I was not confident about this last week. I asked the Minister what further evidence the Government need to establish a gambling ombudsman. Despite the overwhelming evidence in the Lords report, she replied:

“The Government continue to have an open mind about the role of an ombudsman.”—[Official Report, 9/12/20; col. 1234.]


I hope that she will she reconsider. However, I welcome the work that has been done on VIP schemes and banning credit card gambling, as well as the work in relation to loot boxes and affordability. Can the Minister update us on progress and assure us that, where action can be taken quickly without waiting for the conclusion of the review, it will happen?

Gambling harm is a public health issue, and like the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, I was disappointed to see no formal role for the Department of Health and Social Care in this review. Will the Minister assure me that the review will take a public health approach and that mechanisms are in place to ensure that DHSC participates fully? The threat of major reform has led the industry to make some welcome, albeit limited, changes, but we are dealing with a vast, multinational industry that is obliged to protect its profits. Does the Minister agree that this review must be evidenced-based and avoid undue influence by industry lobbyists—lobbyists arguing, for example, that reform should be muted for fear of seepage to the black market? Of course we should look to measures to tackle the black market through payment processors and domain blocking, but does she agree with the Gambling Commission that the black market is not a significant issue and should not be used to drive down standards locally? Is she aware that some operators in this country are themselves operating in black or grey markets abroad? Will the Minister ask the regulator to look into this matter urgently?

Last week, I met the mother and the fiancée of Chris Bruney, who tragically took his own life because of a gambling addiction at the age of just 25. Chris was a bright and vibrant young man with his whole life ahead of him. To my mind, there can be no more powerful illustration of the need to reform our outdated gambling laws. I urge the Government not to delay.

Audiovisual Media Services (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Friday 27th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, colleagues across the House have posed a number of very awkward questions for the Minister to answer, and I am going to add one or two more of my own. It is worth making a few observations that perhaps take us to the point where we can see an improvement in the patchwork of regulation that we are left with.

As we have seen with a number of recent DCMS instruments, our ability to effectively regulate digital activity will be restricted without broader reciprocal arrangements with the EU and others, as my noble friend Lord Blunkett admirably explained and set out in his comments, which were echoed by the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, and others across the House.

This SI provides some certainty on matters of jurisdiction after the transition period, which empowers Ofcom to regulate video-sharing platforms where their primary establishment is in the UK—but it does rather leave it at that. It is important today to remind ourselves that the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee said that:

“It is important that the Government will adhere to the legislative timetable provided by the Department, so that the current regulatory gap, which leaves UK users potentially exposed to online harm, can be closed.”


That is a pretty damning observation, and we should be worried by that. We need greater certainty for the sector, and greater certainty as legislators and regulators. Can we be assured that this regulatory gap will be closed pronto? We need the online harms legislation to provide the certainty that we all crave.

VSPs that operate in the UK but are established in other countries may fall under Ofcom’s jurisdiction, but not, as others have observed, if that firm has a presence in the EEA. In that case, power will reside with the European regulator and we will, after the end of this year, be shut out from that—and we need influence.

Paragraph 2.18 of the Explanatory Memorandum notes the particular challenges around TikTok, which is based in China and has no physical presence in either the UK or EEA, and which is therefore currently in a regulatory void. This concern, as others have observed, is covered by the 32nd report of the SLSC. Paragraph 2.19 of the memorandum acknowledges that

“there will only be a small number of VSPs in Ofcom’s jurisdiction.”

Can the Minister estimate how many? Is she confident that Ofcom has the regulatory tools needed?

We find ourselves in a bizarre holding pattern where we will have to make do with these arrangements between the end of the transition period and the emergence of the long-awaited online harms Bill. Can the Minister provide any new information on when that legislation is expected? Will it be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, as has been suggested in some quarters, and if so can she confirm what that will look like? It would be very helpful to this House and to the other place if we had that opportunity.

We hope we will finally have some news on a deal with the EU in coming days, if one ever gets over the line. However, if ever an area of law needed to be put in place quickly to cover the gaps that exist, this is it, and we need strong arrangements on digital regulation if we are not to be at the mercy of the market. That said, of course we support this instrument, which is making a contribution to providing an urgently needed regulatory regime.