Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 merits of raising the minimum age for social media use for children.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 20 January, the government announced a short, swift consultation on further measures to keep children safe online, building on the Online Safety Act. While there is consensus that more action is needed, there is not yet consensus on what form that action should take.
The consultation will be accompanied by a national conversation, putting children and parents at the heart of this issue. It will seek views on a range of measures, including what the right minimum age for children to access social media is, as well as explore a ban for children under a certain age. We will also look closely at Australia and their ban on social media for under 16s.
The government is clear that it will act quickly and robustly to deal with concerns that are being raised.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has considered a tiered age-based approach to social media access based on platform safety standards.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must consider different age groups when assessing for risk of content harmful to children. They must implement age-appropriate measures to protect children from harmful content such as violence or bullying. They must also use age assurance to prevent all children encountering the most harmful content such as pornography. Ofcom provides guidance on the risks of harmful content to different age groups.
On 20 January, the government announced a short, swift consultation on further measures to keep children safe online, accompanied by a national conversation. It will seek views on a range of measures, including exploring ways to improve the accuracy of age assurance for children to support the enforcement of minimum age limits.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to protect children and young people from harmful social media content.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must consider different age groups when assessing for risk of content harmful to children. They must implement age-appropriate measures to protect children from harmful content such as violence or bullying. They must also use age assurance to prevent all children encountering the most harmful content such as pornography. Ofcom provides guidance on the risks of harmful content to different age groups.
On 20 January, the government announced a short, swift consultation on further measures to keep children safe online, accompanied by a national conversation. It will seek views on a range of measures, including exploring ways to improve the accuracy of age assurance for children to support the enforcement of minimum age limits.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the powers of the Communications Ombudsman.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has not assessed the potential merits of increasing the powers of the Communications Ombudsman and has no plans to expand its remit.
Ofcom, the independent regulator of communications services, approves Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes for UK communication and postal services, including the Communications Ombudsman. Ofcom is required to assess whether the schemes it has approved still meet the requirements under the relevant regulations and Ofcom can modify conditions of approval or withdraw approval at any time.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to bring forward proposals to expand the remit of the Communications Ombudsman.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has not assessed the potential merits of increasing the powers of the Communications Ombudsman and has no plans to expand its remit.
Ofcom, the independent regulator of communications services, approves Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes for UK communication and postal services, including the Communications Ombudsman. Ofcom is required to assess whether the schemes it has approved still meet the requirements under the relevant regulations and Ofcom can modify conditions of approval or withdraw approval at any time.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 effectiveness of online safety protections for vulnerable residents in West Dorset.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act has come into effect. As of March this year, services must remove illegal content such as child abuse material or terrorist content. As of July this year, children must also be protected from age-inappropriate content such as pornography and self-harm content. Children and others will be starting to see the effects of this.
Monitoring and evaluation are key to understanding how effective the online safety regime is. DSIT and Ofcom have developed a framework to monitor the implementation of the Act and evaluate its core outcomes.
This monitoring and evaluation work is already tracking the impact of the online safety regime and will feed into a Post Implementation Review of the Act.
We are committed to making the online world safe, particularly for children, so people can seize the opportunities it brings.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to keep people safe online in West Dorset.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act has come into effect. As of March this year, services must remove illegal content such as child abuse material or terrorist content. As of July this year, children must also be protected from age-inappropriate content such as pornography and self-harm content. Children and others will be starting to see the effects of this.
Monitoring and evaluation are key to understanding how effective the online safety regime is. DSIT and Ofcom have developed a framework to monitor the implementation of the Act and evaluate its core outcomes.
This monitoring and evaluation work is already tracking the impact of the online safety regime and will feed into a Post Implementation Review of the Act.
We are committed to making the online world safe, particularly for children, so people can seize the opportunities it brings.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 steps it is taking to prevent the (a) sale and (b) marketing of vape liquids containing (i) Class A substances and (ii) spice on social media platforms.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act (OSA) places duties on services to reduce the risk that they are used to facilitate illegal sales of controlled drugs. DSIT has regular discussions with Ofcom regarding the implementation of the OSA’s duties. Where providers fail to comply with these duties, Ofcom can issue fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue or £18m, whichever is higher. The Act establishes that the Secretary of State must review the functioning of the Act within 2-5 years of the regime taking effect. This will include reviewing the adequacy of Ofcom's enforcement powers.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of Ofcom’s enforcement powers to tackle the online sale of illegal drugs in vape liquids.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act (OSA) places duties on services to reduce the risk that they are used to facilitate illegal sales of controlled drugs. DSIT has regular discussions with Ofcom regarding the implementation of the OSA’s duties. Where providers fail to comply with these duties, Ofcom can issue fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue or £18m, whichever is higher. The Act establishes that the Secretary of State must review the functioning of the Act within 2-5 years of the regime taking effect. This will include reviewing the adequacy of Ofcom's enforcement powers.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 impact of introducing digital ID on (a) older and (b) digitally excluded people in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government will deliver a comprehensive inclusion programme to help ensure everyone eligible is able to access the new digital ID. This will include targeted support for those who may struggle to access or engage with digital services or devices. This will be a big opportunity to improve digital inclusion.
The Government will launch a public consultation on the new digital ID by the end of the year, setting out the proposed approach in more detail and seeking views on this. This will include the proposed approach to inclusion.
The Government will work closely with expert stakeholders to make the programme as effective and inclusive as possible.