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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with social media companies on preventing the exposure of underage children to harmful material.

Preventing children’s exposure to harmful material is a priority for the government. Under our proposals in the Online Safety Bill, social media companies will be required to assess the risks of children being exposed to harmful content on their services and implement effective safety measures to protect them. They will also have to ensure that only children who are old enough are able to access their service.

The government continues to engage with a wide range of stakeholders as the Bill goes through pre-legislative scrutiny. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.