Social Media: Online Anonymity

Lord Campbell-Savours Excerpts

Wednesday 6th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

It is certainly something worth considering in the White Paper, but as far as dealing with the police is concerned, the Home Office is working with policing to identify ways to tackle this when it goes over the threshold into criminality. These are relatively new crimes; the police will have to evolve methods to deal with them. We have also worked with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. There is a digital intelligence investigation programme, aiming to ensure policing has the ability to investigate the digital elements of all crime types. Also, the Home Office is working with the College of Policing to drive improvements in overall police capability to investigate and prosecute online offences.

[Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab)]

My Lords, going back to the Minster’s original response, in what sense does he believe anonymity helps freedom of speech?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

If, for example, you are in an authoritarian regime—

[Lord Campbell-Savours]

We are not.

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

I said “if”—we do not think only about this country. That is one example. If you are a 15 year-old girl who is being abused, being able to go on to the internet to ask for health advice or let people know about it is an example of where anonymity can sometimes help.