Online Abuse: Protection for Children
Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Jones of Whitchurch(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)
My Lords, this is an issue that we of course take seriously. We want to make sure that we have the right spread of expertise reflected in the super-complaints process. We are still working that through with Ofcom, and we will be able to spell it out in more detail very soon. However, I take the noble Lord’s point, which is a good one. I will go back and check that that is indeed being addressed.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, is it not the case that too many of our regulators use consultation as a method of doing nothing? Should we not ask our regulators to be more precise, get on with the job that they have been charged with doing and protect the public?
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)
In this case, Ofcom can do only what legislators ask it to do or provide for it to do. It is limited in that. As noble Lords will know, Ofcom has a clear remit to implement the Online Safety Act. I know that we have discussed this several times before, but I think that as we roll out the illegal codes and the children’s safety code, they will make a profound difference to what children can see. I am confident that Ofcom has the resources and wherewithal to make that step change, which we all know is necessary.
US Tariffs on EU Goods
Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Jones of Whitchurch(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)
My Lords, we will always ensure that we protect the interests of all UK businesses, including those in Northern Ireland.
Lord Watts (Lab)
Does the present position not demonstrate that Britain is being left behind in the negotiations between all the different partners in America and Europe? This is a reflection of our decision to leave Europe, and leave ourselves exposed to these measures.
Online Safety Legislation: Abuse on Social Media
Debate between Lord Watts and Baroness Jones of Whitchurch(9 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)
My Lords, my noble friend will know that, in addition to the implementation of the Online Safety Act, we already have plans to bring forward a new data Bill where some of these issues can be debated. We also have ambitions to bring forward a further piece of AI legislation, on which we will have the opportunity to talk about those issues in more detail. He is absolutely right: these are serious issues. They were debated at length during the passage of the previous data protection Bill, and we hope to return to them again.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, is it not the case that Ofcom is letting down the public? What we need is to review the role of Ofcom and other regulators and, if they are failing to do their duties for the public, they should be removed from office.
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)
My Lords, Ofcom has a very wide-ranging and serious set of responsibilities. There is no suggestion that it is not carrying out its responsibilities in the run-up to the implementation of the Online Safety Act. We are working very closely with Ofcom and believe that it will carry out those additional functions that we have given it with proper scrutiny and to high standards. Yes, there is a case for looking at all regulators; we have a debate on this on Monday in the House, and I am looking forward to that, but that is a wider issue. For the moment, we have to give Ofcom all the support that we can in implementing a very difficult set of regulations.