Online Safety Act 2023: Online Hate and Racism

Lord Shamash Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes a very important point. Of course, that inherent bias against women was present in society long before the internet was invented. That is something that we must always struggle to combat, whether online or offline. The illegal harms duties under the Online Safety Act regime came into effect earlier this year in March. That means that services now must now risk-assess for illegal content and have procedures to detect and swiftly remove illegal content—whether it is terrorism, child sexual abuse material, intimate image abuse or other misogynistic abuse.

[Lord Shamash (Lab)]

Tomorrow evening, Aston Villa will be playing Maccabi Tel Aviv. What steps are the Government taking to monitor the possible antisemitic statements that may appear in the press and, obviously, online?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

Obviously, the police will have operational independence in the way they both monitor and police the game. We have been very clear from the Front Bench that we have arrived at a sad point when travelling fans of any team cannot go and support their football team in safety, wherever that match is held. We are saddened by the decision from Maccabi Tel Aviv to turn down its ticket allocation, but we respect its right to do so. The police will do their job and they will do it well.