Asked by: Dan Aldridge (Labour - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to promote the use of content authentication technologies to help identify AI-generated content online; and if she will consider regulatory intervention to ensure provenance signals are preserved and visible to users.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Exploring solutions for enabling users and institutions to determine what media is real and what is AI-generated is a key part of tackling a wide range of AI risks. The government is examining the robustness of a range of such solutions in this space through the recent Deepfake Detection Challenge.
AI is a general-purpose technology with a wide range of applications, which is why the government believes that the vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at the point of use. In response to the AI Action Plan, the government committed to work with regulators to boost their capabilities. The government has been clear that we will legislate where needed but we will do so on the basis of evidence where any serious gaps are.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what comparative assessment she has made of trends in the level of online harm experienced by (a) girls and (b) boys.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Making the online environment a safer place for children is a priority for this government.
The Online Safety Act requires services to protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content as well as proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content, much of which disproportionately affects women and girls, including intimate image abuse.
Ofcom has published guidance outlining steps services can take to make their platforms safer for women and girls online.
We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the Act, the government announced a consultation and national conversation to understand how best we can build on these provisions to ensure children have positive, enriched digital lives.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, further to the three month consultation announced by the Government on further measures to keep children safe online, whether her Department plans to review submissions (a) as they come in or (b) at the close of that consultation.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government will review submissions to the consultation once the consultation has closed and respond to the consultation in the summer. We will act quickly on the findings of the consultation.
We want to be sure that everyone’s views are heard in the consultation on next steps to enhance children’s wellbeing online. This includes civil society organisations, parents and children from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure schools tackle gender-specific online harm.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The updated relationships, sex and health education guidance ensures that, from September 2026, schools will address gender‑based online harms including from pornography, deepfakes, sextortion and misogynistic content. It places new emphasis on challenging misogyny and supporting pupils to recognise and report harmful behaviours and to understand the impact of harmful online influencers.
In December 2025, the government published a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. We want to protect young people and drive forward education on healthy relationships. We will invest £11 million to pilot the best interventions in schools over the next three years.
‘Keeping children safe in education’, the statutory safeguarding guidance which schools must have regard to, has been strengthened significantly in recent years to reflect evolving online risks. Online safety is embedded throughout, making clear the importance of ensuring a whole school approach to keeping children safe both online and offline.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans her Department has to support the development of satellite based internet to help improve rural broadband connectivity in West Sussex.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Government is committed to delivering gigabit coverage to 99% of UK premises by 2032 and will continue to consider what it can do to further enable alternatives to fibre connections for premises located in very hard-to-reach areas.
The Government also works closely with Ofcom to ensure that spectrum management and licensing arrangements support the deployment of satellite broadband services, including through appropriate authorisation of satellite networks and earth stations.
The Government Alpha trials, which ended in March 2025, tested the capability of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity in remote locations. The Government also ran a pilot through the Rural Connectivity Accelerator which combined satellite and wireless technologies to support connectivity needs in remote areas.
The satellite market is developing at pace, with further entrants and significant changes to terminal equipment, speeds and the cost of service packages. We continue to monitor and support the development of this market.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, further to the three month consultation announced by the government on further measures to keep children safe online, how many full-time equivalent officials she has assigned to this consultation.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In order to ensure that the consultation considers all arguments and views, we are drawing on expertise from across the department and from a variety of different teams as necessary. This means that an accurate estimation in terms of FTE is not possible.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) make representations to the Iranian authorities on lifting the internet blackout and (b) assist Iranian citizens to stay connected via alternative channels.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to urge Iran to immediately restore access to the internet and communications. Iran must respect its citizens' fundamental rights and freedom.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Chelmsford (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the government of Iran to restore internet access and international communications to allow people to search for missing family members after recent protests.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Lord Bishop to the statement from the Foreign Secretary that I provided to the House on 15 January, and the answers I gave in the subsequent debate which can be found here: Iran - Hansard - UK Parliament.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of plans to replace the copper wire communications network in Surrey.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensure that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK, including Surrey. There are 3.6 million remaining PSTN lines. Down from over 35 million PSTN lines at the network’s peak.
Communication providers and network operators signed voluntary charters in December 2023 and March 2024, committing to protect consumers during the PSTN switch-off, including the vulnerable. In November 2024, major communication providers agreed to further safeguards. These include timely and repeated communications, signing data sharing agreements with local authorities to identify telecare customers, a free engineer visit, and a battery back-up solution, if needed.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that businesses undertaking a transition to digital services, such as BT’s transition to Digital Voice, have considered the potential impact of this action on vulnerable and elderly individuals.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensure that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK.
Government secured safeguards for customers through the PSTN Charter in December 2023 and the Non‑Voluntary Migrations Checklist in November 2024. Major communication providers committed to a number of measures to protect customers, including signing data sharing agreements with local authorities to identify telecare customers, timely and repeated communications, a free engineer visit, and a battery back-up solution, if needed.
In addition to existing safeguards, any vulnerable customers (including the elderly) can self-identify to receive additional support from their provider as set out in the GOV.UK Supported Journeys Guidance when their landline is upgraded.