Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of online safety and content moderation standards on social media platforms, including Snapchat and TikTok, particularly in relation to violent content.

The Online Safety Act requires companies to tackle illegal content, including content inciting violence. They must also protect children from certain forms of legal violent content, including content depicting or encouraging serious violence. Ofcom has robust enforcement powers to ensure platforms comply with these duties.

My department is working with Ofcom and the Home Office to monitor how often violent and illegal content is encountered across all major social media platforms, and the impact this has on users, especially children. We are keeping our online safety regime under constant review and we will act where evidence shows further intervention is necessary.