Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make it a criminal offence to create fake online media accounts for public bodies and organisations where the communication of official and public information is necessary for civic order and resilience.

I apologise to the Rt. Hon. Member for the delayed response to his question of 6 December.

The Online Safety Act, brought forward by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, introduced the false communications offence. This offence captures communications where the individual knows the information to be false and sends it intending to cause harm, without reasonable excuse.

Further legislative proposals on online media usage would fall within the remit of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.