Internet: Young People

(asked on 26th January 2018) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which voluntary action by global companies will be sufficient to make the UK the safest place for young people online, further to the Prime Minister’s speech on 25 January.


Answered by
Lord Ashton of Hyde Portrait
Lord Ashton of Hyde
This question was answered on 1st February 2018

In general, Government favours a self-regulatory approach to the internet, and seeks to work collaboratively with key partners. Considerable success has been achieved, without the need for regulation, such as the roll-out of free, family-friendly ISP level filters for the vast majority of broadband customers with prompts to encourage parents to activate them.

The UK Government is making important progress in tackling online safety issues through the Digital Charter, which was announced in the Queen's Speech and published on 25 January. This work includes the publication of the Internet Safety Strategy green paper on 11 October 2017, which aims to tackle the growing dangers that users can face online. The Strategy sets out how we will continue to work collaboratively with industry, parents and communities, working together to keep citizens safe online. The Strategy consulted on a range of safety initiatives - including a social media code of practice; a social media levy; and transparency reporting to help inform future policy. We plan to take these forward on a voluntary basis, but will consider regulation if necessary.

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