Social Media: Animal Welfare
(asked on 30th August 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential link between (a) animal abuse and (b) social media.
Answered by
Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Ofcom is the UK’s independent regulator for online safety. Social media platforms and search services will have duties to tackle animal abuse content under the Online Safety Act (OSA). Ofcom recently published its proposals for how these providers should tackle animal cruelty content under their (OSA) ‘illegal content duties’ (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/illegal-harms-further-consultation-torture-and-animal-cruelty).
Government ministers and officials regularly discuss online safety matters including the implementation of the Online Safety Act and its protections against animal cruelty.