Online Sexual Harassment of Children Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Grade of Yarmouth
Main Page: Lord Grade of Yarmouth (Non-affiliated - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Grade of Yarmouth's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(2 years, 7 months ago)
Lords ChamberThe noble Baroness is right: it is by the end of secondary school that this should have been achieved, but of course the process begins earlier. One finding in the Children’s Commissioner’s report is that parents often underestimate the extent to which, and the age at which, their children are coming into contact with pornography and other online harms. Her very useful report gives practical advice to parents about how they can start having those conversations in an age-appropriate way.
My Lords, can my noble friend the Minister reassure the House that while, quite commendably, the accent is on pornography and other harms, gambling is also a very serious issue online? Loot boxes, which do not come under the Gambling Act, are in fact the entry point for kids to learn how to gamble.
That is one reason why the online safety Bill will take the approach of setting out in secondary legislation the sorts of harms that can affect children and other vulnerable people—and indeed all internet users—so that we can keep on top of emerging threats and make sure that our legislation does so as well.