Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will make an assessment of proposals to use tax deterrents for social media service providers as a measure to address harmful speech, as proposed by Dr Mihaela Popa-Wyatt from the University of Manchester.

The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to protect users; this includes taking action against illegal content, such as harassment, and protecting children from harmful content. Ofcom is the regulator for this regime. It will have strong enforcement powers where providers fail to comply with their duties. It will be able to impose significant fines and, where appropriate, business disruption measures on non-compliant platforms. It can fine companies up to £18 million or 10% of their qualifying worldwide annual revenue.