Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of ending online anonymity on abuse against (a) hon. Members and (b) other public figures.

We are considering this issue as part of our work with DCMS on the Online Safety Bill, which is currently going through pre-legislative scrutiny.

Harmful online abuse is unacceptable, and the online safety framework will require companies to take robust action to improve the safety of their users. The Bill will introduce a Duty of Care which will apply to all online services that allow user generated content. Companies will need to have systems and processes in place to keep their users safe, and Ofcom will have tough enforcement powers to use against those which do not comply.

We need to take a balanced approach given that anonymity can be important for a range of cases – such as pro-democracy movements. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Online Safety Bill provides an opportunity to hear a range of views on the topic.