Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the terms of reference for the Advisory Committee on Online Information.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom and its advisory committees are independent of government. The design of the advisory committee’s Terms of Reference are therefore a matter for Ofcom.
The Online Safety Act includes clear requirements for the Committee’s responsibilities: advising Ofcom on how providers should address mis- and disinformation, how the regulator should exercise their transparency powers and fulfil their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation. These obligations are unchanged and are duly reflected in the terms of reference for the Online Information Advisory Committee.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2025 to Question 29226 on Media, what the two media literacy programmes funded in 2024 were called; and where he plans to publish further information about each.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In 2024 the Government provided £0.5 million to expand the National Literacy Trust’s ‘Empower’ and Parent Zone’s ‘Everyday Digital’ programmes.
‘Empower’ provided media literacy education to nearly 4,000 vulnerable students aged 11-16, who were excluded or at risk of exclusion, increasing critical thinking and awareness of online harms. It also trained schoolteachers to lead media literacy within their schools.
‘Everyday Digital’ reached over 60,000 parents, helping improve their understanding of media literacy, set digital boundaries and critically evaluate online content. The evaluation showed a 45% improvement in media literacy understanding.
Both organisations evaluated their programmes’ impact and will publish reports.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 ensure social media companies (a) remove and (b) report (i) illegal counterfeit currency and (ii) fraudulent foreign exchange trading.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The illegal content duties under the Online Safety Act came into force on 17 March 2025. Social media services must now have systems and processes in place to proactively protect users from illegal fraudulent content. Ofcom’s illegal content Codes of Practice recommended that certain services at risk of fraud have dedicated reporting channels for trusted flaggers, such as the National Crime Agency, to report fraud. Providers must take the safety measures recommended in Codes or use other effective measures to protect users.
Ofcom can take enforcement action if providers do not act promptly to address the risks on their services.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to take steps to regulate unrealistic beauty standards in online content aimed at younger children.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, platforms and search services that are likely to be accessed by children must prevent children of all ages from encountering content that promotes, encourages or provides instructions for eating disorders.
Providers must also consider how algorithms can impact children’s exposure to harmful content and mitigate this risk.
Ofcom’s draft children’s code of practice also acknowledge that body image content may be linked to significant harm arising from body or image dissatisfaction.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what measures his Department has discussed with social media companies to help tackle the spread of misinformation online.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act focuses on the worst kinds of mis- and disinformation - that which is illegal content or content harmful to children. For example, its Foreign Interference Offence forces platforms to take proactive action against state-linked online interference. Platforms must remove other in-scope illegal mis- and disinformation where they become aware of it.
The government is clear on platforms’ responsibility to keep their users safe and tackle harmful content, and DSIT engages with major social media platforms on issues or events that create risks for public safety or national security.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to provide financial support to help scientists phase out the use of animals in medical research.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting the uptake and development of alternative methods to the use of animals in science. UK Research and Innovation is committed to reducing the use of animals in research and provide a number of financial support mechanisms to do that. This includes, for example, core funding to the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, and supporting ‘human-specific’ research through the MRC Experimental medicine programme.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions his Department has had with social media companies on age restrictions for accessing social media.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is committed to protecting children’s safety online across the UK.
The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to consider, as part of their risk assessments, how their algorithms impact children’s exposure to illegal and harmful content. Additionally, platforms are required to consider how their functionalities, including algorithms, affect the time children spend on the platform.
Ofcom’s draft Children’s Safety Codes include measures that prevent harm related to algorithms, including by recommending that algorithms and other recommender systems filter harmful content out of children’s feeds.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 help reduce the potential impact of social media algorithms on addiction of young people to social media in (a) Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is committed to protecting children’s safety online across the UK.
The Online Safety Act requires social media platforms to consider, as part of their risk assessments, how their algorithms impact children’s exposure to illegal and harmful content. Additionally, platforms are required to consider how their functionalities, including algorithms, affect the time children spend on the platform.
Ofcom’s draft Children’s Safety Codes include measures that prevent harm related to algorithms, including by recommending that algorithms and other recommender systems filter harmful content out of children’s feeds.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
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 potential merits of using revenue generated by spectrum Annual Licence Fees to support improved mobile coverage.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Ofcom sets mobile spectrum fees independently to promote the optimal use of spectrum. The Government recognises the cost of these fees to the industry. Supporting investment in mobile networks is a priority and the Government continues to assess what further interventions are needed to support 5G deployment.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on increasing spectrum available to mobile operators.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I have not had any discussions with Ofcom directly on increasing the spectrum available to mobile operators, but my officials are in regular discussion with them on spectrum issues. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to suitable spectrum across different sectors, the opportunities this creates for growth, and that a focus on innovation and enhanced shared use of spectrum will become increasingly important to realise this.