Online Safety Act 2023: Virtual Private Networks
Debate between Lord Sugar and Lord Leong
Lord Leong (Lab)
My Lords, the UK has a proud and enduring tradition of free speech, and we remain fully committed to protecting it as a fundamental human right. In respect of the noble Lord’s question, I will have to write to him as to when Ofcom will make the classification. The Online Safety Act is not about censoring lawful opinions or stifling debate. Its purpose is to tackle illegal content and to ensure that children are better protected online. It does not and will not restrict lawful political speech or limit adults from accessing or posting content that is legal, even if others may find it offensive. Free speech in the UK is not only alive, it is safeguarded.
Lord Sugar (CB)
My Lords, on a lighter note, I, like most noble Lords here, am a BBC licence fee payer. I get very frustrated that I am unable to access the content of, for example, BBC iPlayer and have resorted to using VPN services to do so. The BBC has gone out of its way to block the use of VPNs, but can the Minister have a word with it to allow us to log in using our details? I recognise that some of the content there is not for broadcast outside the UK, but nevertheless it has the technology to work out how to deal with that.
Lord Leong (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that point, and I will speak to my colleagues in DCMS accordingly.