Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the adequacy of its powers under the Online Safety Act 2023 to tackle a suicide forum linked to over 135 UK deaths.

The Secretary of State has been clear Ofcom has full backing to use its enforcement powers and welcomes its investigation into extremely harmful suicide forums.

Ofcom’s provisional decision published on 27 February is clear that unless its concerns are fully addressed, it will consider using all of the powers available to it, including, in most serious cases of non-compliance, imposing business disruption measures.

One of the first things the Secretary of State did in the job was to make self-harm a priority offence under the Online Safet Act, triggering the strongest possible legal protections. She has been clear she will not hesitate to go further if needed and regularly talks to Ofcom about ensuring enforcement is strong.