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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Intellectual Property Office about the development of guidance similar to “know your customer” guidance for financial services, for wider application under any future online harms legislation.

Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with organisations on a range of issues, including the challenge of fraud and anonymity online. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.

The Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, published in December 2020, sets out expectations on companies to keep their users safe online. This includes a proposed legal duty of care on companies and the appointment of a new communications regulator, Ofcom, to ensure that new laws are enforced.

There are many legitimate reasons why an individual would not wish to identify themselves online. Whistleblowers, victims of modern slavery and survivors of domestic abuse may wish to stay anonymous, to protect their identity online. Our proposals strike the right balance between protecting users’ rights online, while preserving freedom of expression. The Online Safety Bill will be introduced next year.