Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make it her policy that types of pornographic content that it would be illegal to distribute offline, such as scenes depicting incest and scenes of simulated child abuse, are subject to equivalent controls online.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act (OSA) already places robust duties on online platforms to tackle illegal and harmful pornographic content. Platforms are required to prevent users from encountering such content, and services that host or allow access to pornography must have effective measures, such as age verification, to protect children. In 2025, the government announced that strangulation will be made a priority offence under the OSA, requiring platforms to take swift action against this content.
Following the Independent Pornography Review, a cross-government joint team has been established to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, on what date the cross-departmental team established to address the findings of Baroness Bertin’s Independent Pornography Review formally commenced its work; and when is that team expected to provide its findings and recommendations.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’ committed to creating a joint team to address the issues in Baroness Bertin’s Review. The team is now established and is formed by the Home Office, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Ministry of Justice, and Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The team is examining the evidence to inform the government’s approach to pornography policy carefully.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] on the capture of sex data in public services.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Data Bill does not alter data collection practices for public services.
Public service providers processing personal data are still subject to compliance requirements under data protection legislation.
The Government accepts the Supreme Court Ruling. We are working through this judgement carefully, including on how public services collect (and subsequently process) sex data in public services.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the role of online pornographic content in perpetuating violence against women and girls.
Answered by Feryal Clark
An independent review into online pornography regulation was tasked with understanding the impact of pornography on viewers’ attitudes towards violence against women and girls. The review has just concluded and the government is assessing its findings. The final report will be published in due course.
The Online Safety Act introduces safeguards against harmful content and targets illegal content which includes violence against women and girls. The Act also prevents children from accessing pornography and requiring in-scope services to protect users from illegal pornographic content.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to regulate (a) online and (b) offline pornography to help meet the Government's target of halving violence against women and girls within a decade.
Answered by Feryal Clark
An independent review into online pornography regulation was tasked with understanding the impact of pornography on viewers’ attitudes towards violence against women and girls. The review has just concluded and the government is assessing its findings. The final report will be published in due course.
The Online Safety Act introduces safeguards against harmful content and targets illegal content which includes violence against women and girls. The Act also prevents children from accessing pornography and requiring in-scope services to protect users from illegal pornographic content.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to monitor the impact of online and offline pornography on violence against women and girls.
Answered by Feryal Clark
An independent review into online pornography regulation was tasked with understanding the impact of pornography on viewers’ attitudes towards violence against women and girls. The review has just concluded and the government is assessing its findings. The final report will be published in due course.
The Online Safety Act introduces safeguards against harmful content and targets illegal content which includes violence against women and girls. The Act also prevents children from accessing pornography and requiring in-scope services to protect users from illegal pornographic content.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure that pornographic sites remove content that promote a sexual interest in children.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Online Safety Act will place strict safety duties on user-to-user online platforms, including pornography-sharing sites, to proactively tackle any child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) content on their services. These sites need to start assessing for CSEA and other illegal content risks now. Their duties to tackle this content are scheduled to fully take effect this spring.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 prevent children being exposed to pornography in Reigate constituency.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Government is committed to keeping children safe online. Our priority is the effective implementation of the Online Safety Act so that children benefit from its wide-reaching protections.
The Act requires that all in scope services that allow pornography use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing it, including services that host user-generated content, and services which publish pornography. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers available against companies who fail to fulfil their duties.