Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to prevent the spread of divisive content on social media; and what enforcement measures he plans to put in place to encourage the compliance of the (a) owners and (b) managers of these platforms.

The Online Safety Act gives social media platforms new duties to protect their users from harmful content and activity. These include extensive duties to protect users from content which stirs up or incites hatred. It also includes duties to protect users from illegal state-backed interference and disinformation. Ofcom is the new regulator for this regime. It will have strong enforcement powers where platforms fail to comply with their duties. This includes powers to impose substantial fines and business disruption measures and also, in certain circumstances, hold senior managers criminally liable.