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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Advertising Standards Authority bans adverts with misleading descriptions, particularly in relation to broadband speeds.

Advertising in the UK is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the industry’s independent regulator, which enforces the Advertising Codes through a system of self-regulation and co-regulation with Ofcom. The Codes apply to all media, including broadcast and online. They incorporate all relevant legislation and set standards for accuracy and honesty to which advertisers must adhere, including specific conditions on advertising to children, causing offence and social responsibility.

The ASA is recognised by the government, the courts and trading standards as the ‘established means’ for the enforcement of misleading advertising, and the Codes include rules designed to ensure that advertisers do not mislead consumers. It has a range of sanctions it can take against non-compliant advertisers and, as a last resort, can refer some to Trading Standards.

The ASA and Ofcom have both taken action in relation to broadband speeds. In May 2018, the ASA implemented new guidance that requires broadband speed claims in adverts to be based on the download speeds available to at least 50% of customers at peak time and no longer on 'up to' speeds available to at least 10% of customers.

In March 2019, Ofcom introduced an updated Broadband Speeds Code of Practice, which all the major communication providers have signed up to. Under this code, companies have to provide consumers with a minimum guaranteed speed at the point of sale. If a consumer’s speed then drops below this level, companies have one month to improve performance, before they must allow consumers to leave their contract without penalty. This right to exit also applies to landline and TV packages, which are purchased at the same time as broadband services.