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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in the last three months to progress their proposed online harms legislation; and whether such legislation will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.

The government is firmly committed to making the UK the safest place to be online, and DCMS and the Home Office are working at pace to introduce this legislation. We will publish a Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper later this year. This will be followed by legislation in 2021, when parliamentary time allows.

It is vital that we get this legislation right and we will make a final decision on pre-legislative scrutiny nearer the time of introduction. We are mindful of the need to balance speed and scrutiny when introducing these measures, and we will continue to engage with parliamentarians as we prepare legislation.