Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle online scam advertising on social media.

While the Online Safety Act continues to be implemented, fraud is a ‘priority offence’ under the Act, with platforms already required to mitigate against criminals using their services and to remove scam content where appearing. Ofcom has existing robust powers to act where services do not fulfil regulatory obligations.

In the Summer, Ofcom intends to publish its register of Category 1 and 2A services and consult on additional duties for these platforms to tackle paid-for fraudulent advertising.

The Home Office’s Fraud Strategy was published on 9 March and so Government has not yet conducted a review of its impact.