Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many reported instances there are of violence or self-harm linked to video gaming in children and young people.

The Home Office does not hold information on the number of reported instances of violence or self-harm linked to video gaming in children and young people.

However, the Government takes this issue extremely seriously and is introducing a new offence through the Online Safety Act to make communications which encourage or assist self-harm illegal. This will protect people of all ages from this harmful content.

Equivalent provisions are set out in the Criminal Justice Bill currently making its way through Parliament, which create the same prohibitions offline.