Australia: Social Media Algorithms

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I thank everyone involved in the panel. It is really important that we address such issues collectively. I will speak to my colleague, Minister Murray, about the future of the panel and come back to the noble Lord as soon as possible.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

My Lords, at the heart of this issue is surely whether the Online Safety Act is capable of dealing with the issues that are arising through technological change and the way in which users are experiencing difficulties. Can my noble friend explain to us whether the Government plan to look again at some of the underlying structure of the Act in order to address these issues, which I think would respond better to these questions?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

This whole area is clearly developing on an ongoing basis. We will always keep under review whether the measures we have in place are adequate; we will always make sure that we take steps to do that. It is an absolute priority of this Government to keep people safe online, and we want to work across party divides to make sure this happens and that we both harness the benefits of this sector and everything that the online world can contribute and make sure that we keep everyone safe online.