Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 18 October (HL Deb, col 615), what work they are doing with industry to tackle hate crime; what measures are being developed to tackle such abuse; and when such measures will be implemented.

The Hate Crime Action Plan was launched in July 2016. This plan sets out a range of non-legislative responses including counter-narrative activity and collaborative work with the Internet industry to identify ways to reduce the harm caused by hate crime online.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are consulting on introducing a social media code of practice as part of the Internet Safety Strategy which was published on 11 October. As laid out in the Digital Economy Act 2017, the code will seek to ensure that providers offer adequate online safety policies, introduce minimum standards and metrics and ensure regular review and monitoring.

Government will continue to consult with stakeholders in the technology industry on the details of the code of practice before its introduction in 2018.