Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for her policies of the 40 safety measures that Ofcom has set out for social media platforms to tackle misogyny.

The Online Safety Act puts new duties on social media companies and search services, making them responsible for their users’ safety. These include new duties tackling illegal content and activity which affects women and girls, including intimate image abuse, exploitation and other forms of abuse.

Ofcom will publish draft guidance in February, detailing measures services can take to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) online.

The government has set an unprecedented mission to halve VAWG in a decade by improving the police and criminal justice system response, relentlessly pursuing perpetrators, and providing victim support. The steps Ofcom is taking helps supports this mission by tackling harmful content online.