Contributions
2,569 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOnline Safety Bill11 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillMy Lords, His Majesty’s Government are committed to defending the invaluable role of our free media. We are clear that our online safety legislation must protect the vital role of…11 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety Bill11 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillMy Lords, the range of the amendments in this group indicates the importance of the Government’s approach to user verification and non-verified user duties. The way these duties…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillThe content which we have added to Clause 12 is a targeted approach. It reflects input from a wide range of interested parties, with whom we have discussed this, on the areas of…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillIt worked. In seriousness, we will both consult the record and, if the noble Lord wants more, I am very happy to set it out in writing. Amendment 63 in the name of the noble and…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillYes, Ofcom, which is bound by it through the Human Rights Act 1998, can ask those questions and make that assessment of the companies, but it would not be right for private…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillPlatforms will be guided by Ofcom in taking measures to comply with their duties which are recommended in Ofcom’s codes, and which contain safeguards for privacy, including ones…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillI ask the noble Viscount to bear with me. I will come on to this a bit later. I do not think it is for category 1 platforms to do so. We have introduced Clause 15 to reduce the…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillI join noble Lords who have sent good wishes for a speedy recovery to the noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone. Amendments 46, 47 and 64, in the name of my noble friend Lady Stowell…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety Bill09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillThat is my view, on the current state of play, but I cannot pre-empt an assessment made at a point in the future, particularly if services change. I stand by what I said…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillYes. The blue tick is certainly not identity verification. I will write to confirm on Meta, but they are separate and, as the example of blue ticks and Twitter shows, a changing…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety Bill09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillI have not had as long in your Lordships’ House, but this is not unprecedented, in my experience. These decisions are taken by the usual channels; I will certainly feed that back…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillWe will discuss this when it comes to the definition of content in the Bill, which covers features. I was struck by the speech by the right reverend Prelate about the difference…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillBut as I think the noble Baroness understands from that reference, this is a definition already in statute, and with which Parliament and the courts are already engaged. The…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillThe discrepancy comes from the point we touched on earlier. Ofcom, as a public body, is subject to the public sector equality duty and therefore the list set out in the Equality…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillThank you. I may be reading the noble Lord’s Amendment 38A excessively critically. I will look at it again. To try to reassure the noble Lord, the Bill already ensures that all…09 May 2023HANSARDOnline Safety BillIt would be, but we fear the chilling effect of having the choice imposed on people. As the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, rightly put it, one does not know what one has not…09 May 2023