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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce legislation to establish the difference between free speech and false information online.

The UK supports freedom of expression, both as a fundamental right and as an essential enabler of the full range of other human rights protected by UK and international law. The Online Harms White Paper, published in April 2019, outlines our proposals for a new duty of care on companies towards their users, overseen by an independent regulator. The regulator will have a responsibility to protect freedom of expression. Our approach will support more people to access their right to freedom of expression, by reducing the risk of being attacked on the basis of their identity. The counter-disinformation measures proposed in the White Paper are focused on protecting users from harm, not judging what is true or false.