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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with social media platforms on reducing the advertisement and sale of counterfeit toys online.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent regulator for advertising in the UK and enforces the Advertising Codes. These codes include specific rules intended to protect consumers from misleading marketing communications, which would apply to adverts for toys. If advertising includes the omission, exaggeration, or ambiguous presentation of information, it can be considered misleading. The ASA works with online platforms via its Intermediary and Platform Principles to promote greater adherence to the non-broadcast advertising codes, resulting in more responsible advertising online.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 also requires online marketplaces to exercise professional diligence in relation to consumer transactions promoted or made on their platforms, which would include the sale of toys.  The Government commenced Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Act, which sets out the rules for unfair trading, in April 2025.