Asked by: Lord Cameron of Lochiel (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the projected impact of new powers granted to Ofcom under the Online Safety Act 2023 on the level of online abuse against women and girls.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must proactively tackle illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls.
Services likely to be accessed by children must also protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content including abuse.
Category 1 services will also need to remove legal misogynistic content, where their terms of service prohibit it.
As of 17 March Ofcom can take robust enforcement action against those failing to comply with their illegal safety duties. The effectiveness of the Act will be kept under review.