Oral Answers to Questions

David Davis Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for raising one of the most serious issues of our time. The Online Safety Act 2023 requires providers, as part of their risk assessment, to consider specifically how algorithms will impact a user’s exposure to illegal content and children’s exposure to harmful content. I have introduced new measures to ensure that children are kept safe, and today I issued a statement of strategic priority to Ofcom to insist that it continues to do so in future.

[David Davis (Goole and Pocklington) (Con)]

T3.   Last year, nearly 50 British universities were identified as having research ties with what are deemed very high-risk Chinese institutions. Subsequently, the intelligence services briefed 24 universities on resisting the infiltration attempts of foreign agencies, but the Intelligence and Security Committee report states that it is “highly likely” that joint UK-China research projects are used for military purposes. What is the Department doing to protect our research and our security?

[Peter Kyle]

The Government are working closely with individual universities, the university sector and our intelligence community to ensure that our research is not only world class but safe and secure.