Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of powers of (a) the Financial Conduct Authority and (b) the Advertising Standards Authority and (c) other regulators to effectively ensure that online platforms are protecting their users against fraudulent and scam content.

I am deeply concerned about the growth and scale of online fraudulent and scam content. My officials are working closely on this matter with those from other government departments, including the Home Office (as the government department responsible for tackling fraud), the Treasury as well as with industry, regulators, and consumer groups with a view to tackling this issue in a cohesive and robust way.

My department has been considering how online advertising is regulated through our Online Advertising Programme, and we will be consulting on this issue later this year following an initial call for evidence in 2020. Our aim is to foster fair, accountable and ethical online advertising that works for citizens, businesses, and society as a whole. In particular, we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers are protected from harmful or misleading advertising.