Thank you for contacting me about internet regulation and the Online Safety Act.
The Online Safety Act 2023 was introduced by the last Government to protect children online and tackle the worst abuses on social media. The legislation heralds in a new era of internet safety and choice by placing world-first legal duties on social media platforms, making the UK the safest place in the world to be online. It gives powers to the independent regulator Ofcom to enforce the rules and impose substantial fines if providers do not comply.
The Act takes a zero-tolerance approach to protecting children and places a legal duty on social media platforms and internet providers to tackle illegal content, including content that promotes encourages or provides instructions for suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. It also places duties on providers to enforce age limits and use age-checking measures on platforms where content harmful to children is published – such as pornography. The Act also requires providers to be more transparent about the risks and dangers posed to children on their sites, including by publishing risk assessments; and provide parents and children with clear and accessible ways to report problems online when they do arise.
The final tranche of measures came into force on the 25 July. Taken together, the measures in the Online Safety Act mean it is now harder for children in the UK to access online porn than in any other OECD country.
While the aims of the Online Safety Act were well-intentioned, there is a worrying risk that some technology companies are taking down content they consider to be harmful to children to avoid violating the law. This is the wrong approach. Self-censorship by companies in search of a quiet life must be avoided. We should not be censoring content online but protecting freedom of speech and encouraging political debate.
The Government must balance our shared desire to remove illegal content and tackle the scourge of online porn use among children while also protecting freedom of speech. Rest assured that I will be following developments very closely and holding the Government to account.
