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Written Question
Digital technology: Disadvantaged
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps with (a) tech companies and (b) non-profits to improve the accessibility of digital content for people facing literacy barriers.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This Government has been clear that ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age is a key priority and continues to take steps to offer needed support, including through the new Cross-Whitehall Ministerial Group for Digital Inclusion.

Our 2021 Online Media Literacy Strategy seeks to support organisations to undertake activity in a more coordinated, wide-reaching, and high-quality way. Over the last year, we have funded 13 media literacy projects aimed at vulnerable and/or hard-to-reach citizens, including young women excluded from mainstream education and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

The Online Safety Act empowers Ofcom to request information from in-scope companies about their media literacy activities to allow better visibility of tech industry efforts.


Written Question
Local Broadcasting and Local Press
Thursday 21st March 2024

Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the viability of independent (a) local newspapers and (b) other media.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers and other news outlets as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.

Amid an evolving media landscape and changes in consumer behaviour, we are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry. We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.

Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and our work through the Mid-Term Review of the BBC Charter to encourage greater collaboration and transparency from the BBC in the local news market and other markets in which it operates. The BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme. We continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining news journalism.


Written Question
Internet: Disinformation
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many cases of online (a) misinformation and (b) disinformation Ofcom has dealt with since the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023; and if he will ask Ofcom to publish those figures regularly.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Ofcom will have regular discussions with firms within its regulatory remit, details of those meetings are a matter for Ofcom as the independent regulator.

Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom will have responsibility for regulating in-scope companies to ensure they are effectively taking action against illegal disinformation online and disinformation which intersects with the Act’s named categories of harmful content to children. These duties will come into force once Ofcom has completed its consultation and publication of the relevant Codes of Practice.

The Act also updates Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty to require it to take tangible steps to prioritise the public's awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation online. These duties are already in force.

It is a matter for Ofcom to decide what information to publish in the discharge of its regulatory responsibilities.


Written Question
Internet: Disinformation
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether Ofcom has had recent discussions with telecommunications companies on tackling online (a) misinformation and (b) disinformation.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Ofcom will have regular discussions with firms within its regulatory remit, details of those meetings are a matter for Ofcom as the independent regulator.

Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom will have responsibility for regulating in-scope companies to ensure they are effectively taking action against illegal disinformation online and disinformation which intersects with the Act’s named categories of harmful content to children. These duties will come into force once Ofcom has completed its consultation and publication of the relevant Codes of Practice.

The Act also updates Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty to require it to take tangible steps to prioritise the public's awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation online. These duties are already in force.

It is a matter for Ofcom to decide what information to publish in the discharge of its regulatory responsibilities.


Written Question
Media Literacy Task Force
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many times the Media Literacy Taskforce has met in the last 12 months.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Media Literacy Taskforce provides the government with expert advice on how best to implement our Online Media Literacy Strategy. In the past 12 months we have convened the Taskforce four times. This has included meetings to seek their advice on delivery of the interventions we are funding through our Media Literacy Taskforce Fund, and to consult on research exploring citizens’ barriers to engagement with media literacy initiatives. The report from this research has been published on gov.uk.


Written Question
Media Literacy Task Force
Friday 1st March 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Media Literacy Taskforce has taken to protect the public from (a) misinformation and (b) disinformation.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Media Literacy Taskforce, a body of 17 media literacy experts drawn from the tech industry, civil society, the press sector and academia, was established in March 2022. DSIT consults the Taskforce on how to tackle the key challenges facing the media literacy landscape, in particular that of how to improve provision for citizens who are disengaged or lack access to support.

For example, the Taskforce played a key role in launching the Media Literacy Taskforce Fund, a grant scheme through which we awarded over £800,000 to four innovative media literacy projects delivered over the financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24. These projects seek to build the online safety and critical thinking skills of users from all age groups, empowering them to respond effectively to the threats posed by mis- and disinformation, along with other online harms. Taskforce members advised the government on which projects should be awarded funding, and then helped grant recipients to maximise the impact of their projects.

The Taskforce does not produce its own reports or other written materials for publication. However, Government has committed to publishing annual Action Plans until the end of Financial Year 2024/2025, setting out initiatives to meet the Online Media Literacy Strategy’s ambition. All projects funded in relation to the Strategy are evaluated robustly and findings will be published on gov.uk, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of future media literacy initiatives and informing government policy moving forward.


Written Question
Media Literacy Task Force
Friday 1st March 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if her Department will publish the recent work of the Media Literacy Taskforce.

Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Media Literacy Taskforce, a body of 17 media literacy experts drawn from the tech industry, civil society, the press sector and academia, was established in March 2022. DSIT consults the Taskforce on how to tackle the key challenges facing the media literacy landscape, in particular that of how to improve provision for citizens who are disengaged or lack access to support.

For example, the Taskforce played a key role in launching the Media Literacy Taskforce Fund, a grant scheme through which we awarded over £800,000 to four innovative media literacy projects delivered over the financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24. These projects seek to build the online safety and critical thinking skills of users from all age groups, empowering them to respond effectively to the threats posed by mis- and disinformation, along with other online harms. Taskforce members advised the government on which projects should be awarded funding, and then helped grant recipients to maximise the impact of their projects.

The Taskforce does not produce its own reports or other written materials for publication. However, Government has committed to publishing annual Action Plans until the end of Financial Year 2024/2025, setting out initiatives to meet the Online Media Literacy Strategy’s ambition. All projects funded in relation to the Strategy are evaluated robustly and findings will be published on gov.uk, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of future media literacy initiatives and informing government policy moving forward.


Written Question
Local Broadcasting
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the viability of local media.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.

The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry.

We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.

Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.


Written Question
Local Broadcasting
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department provides to local media.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.

The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry.

We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.

Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.


Written Question
Community News Project: Finance
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Meta ending funding for the Community News Project on local journalism.

Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.

The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry.

We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.

Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.