Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) Tiktok and (b) other social media platforms on taking steps to help reduce incidents of fraud where people develop fake romantic relationships and manipulate victims into transferring large sums of money.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Fraud is a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. This means that since the illegal harms duties came into force in March, user-to-user services, including TikTok, must take proactive steps to prevent users from encountering fraudulent content on their platforms and swiftly remove it where it does. These duties apply to a range of fraud types, including romance scams, and are enforceable by Ofcom.
Ministers and officials in DSIT have regular discussions with in-scope platforms on the implementation of the Online Safety Act and their broader efforts to tackle fraud.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has held meetings with representatives of CK Hutchison in the last 12 months.
Answered by George Freeman
Details of Ministers’ and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Published declarations include the purpose of the meeting and the names of any additional external organisations or individuals in attendance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the merger between Three and Vodafone on her Department's contracts with Vodafone.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ministers and Departmental officials regularly meet with Ofcom to discuss a range of telecoms issues.
It is the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market of the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three, with input from sectoral regulators.
The Government does not comment on specific mergers or acquisitions, which are subject to the UK’s stringent legal and regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an assessment of potential security implications of the proposed merger between Vodafone-Three.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ministers and Departmental officials regularly meet with Ofcom to discuss a range of telecoms issues.
It is the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market of the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three, with input from sectoral regulators.
The Government does not comment on specific mergers or acquisitions, which are subject to the UK’s stringent legal and regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions the Government has had with Ofcom on the potential merger between Three and Vodafone.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ministers and Departmental officials regularly meet with Ofcom to discuss a range of telecoms issues.
It is the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market of the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three, with input from sectoral regulators.
The Government does not comment on specific mergers or acquisitions, which are subject to the UK’s stringent legal and regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the proposed Vodafone-Three merger.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Ministers and Departmental officials regularly meet with Ofcom to discuss a range of telecoms issues.
It is the responsibility of the Competition and Markets Authority to assess the impact on consumers and competition in the market of the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three, with input from sectoral regulators.
The Government does not comment on specific mergers or acquisitions, which are subject to the UK’s stringent legal and regulatory requirements.