Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to (a) implement the recommendations made by the Leveson Inquiry and (b) support victims of press misinformation.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Leveson Inquiry led to the establishment of a strengthened, self-regulatory system for the press, this includes the creation of the Press Recognition Panel, by Royal Charter. There are also two press regulators, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and the Independent Monitor of the Press (Impress), while other publishers, including the Financial Times and the Guardian, have chosen to stay outside either regulator with their own detailed self-regulatory arrangements.
This self-regulatory system is important for press freedom, but with this freedom comes responsibility. Newspapers must operate ethically and within the bounds of the law. This includes ensuring that members of the public are able to raise concerns about inaccurate reporting through clear, timely and effective routes to redress. If the public wishes to raise concerns about press reporting, they can do so via the relevant regulator. These regulators enforce codes of conduct which provide guidelines on a range of areas, including discrimination, accuracy, privacy, and harassment. If they find that a newspaper has broken the code of conduct, they can order corrections.
The news and media landscape has moved on significantly since the Leveson Inquiry and we need to address the wider challenges in the digital age, including mis and disinformation. The Government’s priority is seeing an independent, thriving and plural press, where journalists are safe and able to report on stories in the public interest and that matter to communities, so that traditional news sources continue to be rated high on trust, accuracy, and impartiality.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure (a) sports clubs and (b) historical re-enactment groups have (i) safety rolled and (ii) spatulated tipped equipment delivered to them via delivery services.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department has not been approached by sport clubs on this issue.
Under current legislation it is against the law to sell a bladed article to a person under the age of 18 and this includes swords. If the sale occurs online it is necessary for the retailer to carry out age verification at the point of sale and, if using a delivery company to deliver a bladed product, to ensure that the delivery company has arrangements in place to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18. Many delivery companies offer age verified delivery.
Outside of mandatory requirements, decisions on items that delivery operators accept in their networks are for the company themselves.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the most effective steps to protect copyright and the creative industries against the increase of AI usage.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises the importance of the UK’s copyright regime to the economic success of the creative industries, one of eight growth-driving sectors as identified in our Industrial Strategy. We are committed to supporting rights holders by ensuring they have control over and receive fair payment for their work, especially as technology advances to include AI. We are actively working with stakeholders to ensure copyright protections remain robust and fit for purpose.
Our 10-week consultation, which was published on Tuesday 17 December and closed on 25 February, engaged AI and creative industries stakeholders widely on the impact of AI on the copyright regime. The aims of the consultation were to seek views on how the copyright framework should apply in the context of AI. Key topics under review include text and data mining, transparency and labelling, computer generated works and digital replicas.
The consultation was published alongside an accompanying options assessment. The consultation sought to gather further evidence on the potential impact on the creative industries of any change to the copyright regime in the context of AI training. We will now consider the full range of responses we have received through our consultation to determine the most effective next steps. If legislative changes are needed, a full economic impact assessment will be undertaken.