Social Media: Substances Unfit for Human Consumption

Lord Clement-Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The Government support clean competition in sport, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport supports UK Anti-Doping and UK Sport in their efforts to protect clean sport and educate athletes on the risks of performance-enhancing drugs. The Online Safety Act covers situations where illegal products are marketed, and it is for Ofcom to enforce that area. As I mentioned, the children’s harms guidance makes it clear that sponsor or influencer-promoted content can be in scope where it actively encourages children to consume harmful substances.

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, the BBC investigation found that these illegal substances are readily available from online sellers based both in the UK and overseas, yet there is no systematic requirement for platforms to know who is placing these advertisements, particularly of the kind that the noble Lord, Lord Winston, referred to. Will the Government ensure that forthcoming work on online advertising standards includes a requirement for platforms to verify the identity of those placing advertisements for health and physique-enhancing products so that enforcement bodies can identify and pursue those responsible?

[Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that the Online Safety Act already covers illegal content and child safety duties. Those duties are in force. Ofcom is now turning its focus to the additional duties for categorised services, which will include protections against fraudulent advertising. We are expecting Ofcom’s consultation on the additional duties next month, which should cover a number of the issues that the noble Lord raises.