Contributions
2,978 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss this issue once again. I want to put on the record my thanks to the Joint Committee, which the hon. Member for Ochil and South…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)That is a fairly standard clause in legislation. Clearly, for most legislation and most areas of Government activity, the relevant departmental Select Committee would be expected…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 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 (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 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 (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)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)Systems.28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventeenth sitting)I thank the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire for raising these issues with the Committee. It is important first to make it clear that websites providing user-to-user…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)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)The new clause seeks to impose liability on a provider where a company providing regulated services on its behalf does not comply with the duties in the Bill. The provider would…28 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Lady for saving DCMS officials a little ink, and electricity for an email. I hope I have addressed the points raised in the debate, and I commend the…23 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)As new services and functions emerge and evolve, and platforms and users develop new ways to interact online, the regime will need to adapt. Harms online will also continue to…23 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)Let me start by stating the fact that this Bill, as drafted, rightly has incredibly strong protections for children. The children’s safety duties that we have already debated are…23 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I do not have in front of me the relevant devolved legislation—I have only the Children Act 2004 directly in front of me—but I assume it is broadly similar. The hon. Member for…23 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)The clause gives the Secretary of State the power to amend the list of fraudulent offences in section 36 in relation to the duties in relation to fraudulent advertising. These are…23 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)I think the hon. Lady is being a little unfair to the Children’s Commissioners. Dame Rachel de Souza is doing a fantastic job of advocating specifically in the digital sphere. She…23 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifteenth sitting)As the hon. Member for Pontypridd said, clause 189 sets out various points of definition and interpretation necessary for the Bill to be understood and applied. I turn to the…23 Jun 2022