Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require (a) Instagram and (b) other social media channels to add posting dates to all posts.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to making the internet safer. Media literacy can help users engage critically with online content, including contextual data and labelling. Since 2022, DSIT has provided £3 million in funding for media literacy projects that empower users to navigate the online world safely.
The Online Safety Act updated Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty by placing targeted duties on the regulator to help the public assess the reliability, accuracy and authenticity of content on services. Ofcom has published a three-year media literacy strategy that emphasises collaboration with platforms. We look forward to working with them as they implement these strategies.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to review the use in the public sector of web tags to record data.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public sector organisations are responsible for their own websites and DSIT has no plans to review or issue guidance on the use of web tags. All public sector organisations must comply with data protection laws.