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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the delay to the progress of the Online Safety Bill until the autumn, what steps they are taking in the interim to protect children from online harm and abuse.

The Government has a comprehensive work programme to ensure that children are protected from online harm and abuse ahead of the implementation of the Online Safety Bill.

The Information Commissioner’s Age Appropriate Design Code provides world-leading protections for children’s personal data and the UK’s regulatory regime for video-sharing platforms requires companies in scope to take appropriate measures to protect under-18s from harmful material.

Furthermore, the Government published its Online Media Literacy Strategy in July 2021, and we have also published practical guidance and codes for companies on what they can do to design safer services, increase children’s safety online and tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse ahead of the new regulatory framework.

The Government is also supporting the development of innovative online safety technology in advance of regulation coming into force. This includes initiatives such as the Safety Tech Challenge Fund which supported the development of ‘proof of concept’ tools to identify child sexual abuse material in end-to-end encrypted environments whilst upholding user privacy.