Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
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 address the role of social media companies in enabling (a) harassment and (b) stalking through their platforms.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act since its implementation in 2023 places legal duties on social media companies to tackle online harms, including harassment and stalking. Platforms must assess risks, swiftly remove illegal content, and implement measures to prevent abuse. They are also required to provide clear reporting tools. Ofcom, the independent regulator, is responsible for ensuring services are complying with their safety duties. The Act also introduced new communications offences, including cyber-flashing and threatening communications, strengthening protections against online harassment and stalking. The Secretary of State is taking steps to make cyberflashing, and assisting and encouraging self-harm priority offences, in addition to stalking and harassment already being priority offences, to strengthen the act further.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
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 establish accessible, non-police reporting pathways for (a) children and (b) young people who experience online harassment.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act requires services in scope to take steps to protect children from both illegal content and harmful content, including abusive and bullying content. These services must implement easy-to-use reporting mechanisms for users to report illegal content and content harmful to children. Providers should respond quickly and effectively and signpost children to appropriate support.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to take steps to help ensure private telecommunications infrastructure providers are unable to install hardware without consultation with local communities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We deprecate the installation of unnecessarily intrusive telecommunications infrastructure, especially where operators have not cooperated in sharing infrastructure or followed guidelines such as consulting communities. Planning regulations aim to strike a balance between the economic and social benefits of investments in digital infrastructure and the needs and concerns of local communities.
The deployment of telecoms infrastructure in England requires planning permission. Most telecommunications infrastructure, including new masts and poles, benefit from permitted development rights.
Regulations and guidelines set out the requirements that communications providers must adhere to when exercising these rights, including any requirements to engage with or notify local planning authorities prior to deploying new infrastructure, and any expectations for engaging with communities. Local planning authorities have discretion on engaging communities about proposed applications.