Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure that technology companies comply with duties under the Online Safety Act to prevent fraud.

Fraud and other financial crimes are ‘priority offences’ under the Online Safety Act, meaning regulated services must prevent users encountering user-generated fraudulent content, swiftly remove it if it appears, and mitigate and manage the risk of their services facilitating fraud. Ofcom, as the independent regulator, has robust powers to act if it finds services are failing in their regulatory duties, including issuing fines of £18 million or 10% global turnover (whichever is higher).