Contributions
2,978 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Online Safety BillI thank the shadow Minister for giving way—I will miss our exchanges across the Dispatch Box. She is making a point about the Secretary of State powers in, I think, clause 40. Is…12 Jul 2022HANSARD Online Safety BillI did of course hear what was said by my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis). To be honest, I think that increased scrutiny of content which might…12 Jul 2022HANSARDForeign Interference Offence: Online Safety BillThis is a joint statement with the Home Office. Some states seek to further their strategic interests by going beyond overt political influence towards more covert influencing…06 Jul 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I understand the intention behind the new clause, but I want to draw the Committee’s attention to existing measures in the Bill that address this matter. I will start with the…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I am not going to make a full speech. I have conferred with colleagues. The power conferred by clause 85(1) is one to require any information in a particular domain. Ofcom does…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I feel slightly out of place, but I will add some concluding remarks in a moment; I should probably first respond to the substance of the new clause. The power to co-operate with…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)rose —28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)First, let me also put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend for his service on the Joint Committee. He did a fantastic job and, as I said, the Committee’s recommendations have…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I am very happy to accept the shadow Minister’s clarification. The way that clauses 14, 17 and 18 are drafted, and the public sector equality duty, include the groups of people…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen North for raising those considerations, because protecting children is clearly one of the most important things that the Bill will do. The…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen North once again for the thoughtfulness with which she has moved her new clause. To speak first to the existing references to accessibility in…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)Could I develop the point I was making earlier on how the Bill currently protects children? Clause 11, which is on page 10, is on safety duties for children—what the companies…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen North for her, as ever, thoughtful comments on the new clause. She has already referred to the user empowerment duties for adults set out in…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)The protections in clause 15—they are not exemptions—would only apply to content that is of bona fide, genuine democratic importance. Obviously, a deepfake of a politician would…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)Systems.28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I agree with the shadow Minister’s point that it is important to make sure social media firms are held to account, which is the entire purpose of the Bill. I will make two points…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)I hope I have made very clear in everything I have said, which I do not propose to repeat, that the way the Bill operates, in several different areas, and the way the criminal law…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)The shadow Minister is right to raise the issue of women and girls being disproportionately—one might say overwhelmingly—the victims of certain kinds of abuse online. We heard my…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)Let me start by saying that I completely agree with the premise of the new clause. First, I agree that these large social media companies are acting principally for motives of…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixteenth sitting)We agree that it is important that the Bill contains measures to tackle disinformation and misinformation that may emerge during serious information incidents, but the Bill…28 Jun 2022