Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk that ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will promote social fragmentation rather than social cohesion.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government aims to use the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to create a discussion about the role that living heritage of all sorts plays in the identity, pride and cohesion of all parts of the UK. To support this, we are taking an inclusive approach to the ratification and seeking to ensure as many people and groups as possible can be involved, which has included launching a public consultation on details of the ratification.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what steps they will take to ensure that they discharge their obligations under that convention in relation to the Ulster Scots community in a manner that is consistent with the recognition of Ulster Scots as a national minority of the United Kingdom under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government is taking an inclusive approach to the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage across the whole UK. We want to engage with everyone, including the Ulster Scots community, and to provide the conditions to allow everyone to express, preserve, and develop their culture and identity within the UK’s implementation of the framework of the 2003 Convention.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their announcement of the proposed ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, what is their reason for not proposing a threshold of longevity for recognition of a cultural practice.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Shadow Minister (Culture, Media and Sport)
HM Government has taken on board guidance from UNESCO which defines Intangible Cultural Heritage as ‘traditional, contemporary, and living at the same time’. In line with this, we want to ensure that newer practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be recognised as well as more long-standing ones.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to legislation to ban all forms of anonymity online.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government believes anonymity online is an important protection for people living in oppressive regimes around the world. That said, anonymous posting should not be a tool to help those seeking to abuse others online. The Government expects all social media to make it easy for users to choose not to receive anonymous posts, to have simple mechanisms for reporting abuse and to take action promptly when abuse is reported.
Removing the ability to make anonymous postings will not prevent cyber bullying behaviour. Protecting children online is everyone’s responsibility. The position remains that where something is illegal offline it is also illegal online and there is already legislation which applies.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the establishment of cyber-abuse and internet trolling research, either independent of, or in concert with, existing government statistical research agencies, to generate statistical research and clarify issues, with a view to reducing and eliminating internet trolling activity.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Research is already being carried out into abusive behaviour online. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) established a Research Working Group in 2010 which has undertaken to collate research on all aspects of internet safety affecting children, including trolling. UKCCIS has also presented reports, such as “Good practice guidance for the providers of social networking and other user-interactive services” which looks at the issue of online bullying. This guidance is currently under review.
In addition, Ofcom is very active in researching online abuse. It publishes the “Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report” on an annual basis. This looks at how children deal with online dangers and how best to improve resilience to online dangers, such as trolling. Earlier this month, it published the “Report on Internet safety measures - Strategies of parental protection for children online” which examines the online safety measures available and how they are used by children.
At present, there are no plans for further statistical research into this behaviour between adults who are trolls. For those whose online postings are grossly offensive, obscene, indecent or false, it remains the case that what is illegal offline is illegal online. The House of Lords Communications Select Committee stated in their report into Social Media and Criminal Offences that the criminal law in this area, almost entirely enacted before the invention of social media, is generally appropriate for the prosecution of offences committed using social media.