Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the role of social media platforms in facilitating (a) paid-to-party and (b) yachting modelling schemes; and what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to prevent the recruitment of young women for exploitative purposes through such schemes.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government continually assesses online service providers’ duties to tackle harmful content and activity on their services, including content relating to sexual exploitation. Under the Online Safety Act, social media platforms need to assess the risk of their services being used to facilitate several kinds of priority illegal harms. These include sexual exploitation. Where there is a risk, platforms need to take steps to mitigate it. Ofcom is the regulator for this regime. It sets out steps that providers can take in codes of practice. This includes steps relating to the design and operation of their services, as well as content moderation steps.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans his Department has to reform regulations on social media advertising to prevent the promotion of products that breach UK product regulations.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK product safety law is clear that all products placed on the market must be safe. However, the Government keeps regulatory frameworks under regular review. The Department for Business and Trade has recently introduced the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill to update the UK’s regulatory framework on product safety. It will support business and economic growth whilst providing greater protection for consumers.