Contributions
2,978 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventh sitting)I thank the hon. Lady for her clarificatory question. I can confirm that in order to be a user of a service, she would not necessarily have to sign up to it. The simple act of…09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventh sitting)I will in a moment. The volume of complaints that gets generated is vast. The way that we will fix this is not by having an external policeman to enforce on individual complaints,…09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventh sitting)It is categorically not the Government’s position that this problem is too big to fix. In fact, the whole purpose of this piece of groundbreaking and world-leading legislation is…09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventh sitting)Because we need to give the new systems and processes time to take effect. If the hon. Lady felt so strongly that an ombudsman was required, she was entirely at liberty to table…09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventh sitting)Yes. My hon. Friend hits the nail on the head. If there is a systemic problem and a platform fails to act appropriately not just in one case, but in a number of them, we have, as…09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Seventh sitting)I was about to sit down, but of course I will give way.09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Eighth sitting)That is of course our objective as well, but let me just return to the question of the definitions. The hon. Lady is right that clause 3(5)(a) says “a significant number of United…09 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifth sitting)Thank you, Sir Roger; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again. It may be appropriate to take this opportunity to congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)Obviously, I encourage the Committee to support those clauses standing part of the Bill. They impose duties on search services—we touched on search a moment ago—to assess the…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)I am happy to follow your direction, Ms Rees. I find that that is usually the wisest course of action. I will speak to amendment 18, which is definitely on the agenda for this…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)No, I don’t. First of all, as I say, it is taken into account; it is not determinative. Secondly, on the point about state-sponsored disinformation, as I think I mentioned…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)I understand the points that the hon. Lady is raising. However, I do not think that it would happen in that way.07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank my right hon. Friend for raising that. The risk assessments and, indeed, the duties arising under this Bill all apply to systems and processes—setting up systems and…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)As I say, clause 10 already references the governance arrangements, but my strong view is that the only thing that will make these companies sit up and take notice—the only thing…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)Yes, and that is why governance is addressed in the clause as drafted. But the one thing that will really change the way the leadership of these companies thinks about this issue…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifth sitting)Just to reassure the shadow Minister and her hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Walton, the Bill confers powers on Ofcom to levy fees and charges on the sector that it is…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and for the—07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)Once again, the Government recognise the intent behind these amendments and support the concept that people with multiple intersecting characteristics, or those who are members of…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)Once again, I agree with the point about transparency and the need to have those matters brought into the light of day. We heard from Frances Haugen how Facebook—now Meta—actively…07 Jun 2022HANSARDOnline Safety Bill (Sixth sitting)I am eagerly awaiting the lengthy representations that the shadow Minister just referred to, as are, I am sure, the whole Committee and indeed the millions watching our…07 Jun 2022