Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of potential impact of online Com Networks on the online safety; and what information her Department holds on what enforcement action has been taken against online platforms to regulate content posted by these networks.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government recognises the serious risks to user safety posed by online groups and recently strengthened the Online Safety Act regime by making the offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm a priority offence. This means regulated platforms must prioritise assessing and mitigating the risks of such content appearing on their services.
Ofcom, the independent regulator, is implementing changes to the regulatory framework and has specifically taken account of evidence about so-called "Com groups", including how they use direct and group messaging to groom and manipulate vulnerable users into self-harm. Ofcom publishes details of enforcement action on its website.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that content relating to women’s health is not inappropriately restricted or shadow-banned on social media platforms; and whether her Department has issued to platforms on safeguarding access to educational health information.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Online Safety Act does not set out to prevent adults from seeking out legal content, nor does it decide what legal content companies should or should not allow on their platforms. Platforms will not be able to arbitrarily remove content, and users will have access to effective complaints procedures when content is unduly taken down. Ofcom, the independent regulator, is working to ensure services understand how to comply with the new requirements.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking with social media platforms to help tackle the spread of extremism online.
Answered by Feryal Clark
Under the Online Safety Act, companies must act against illegal mis- and disinformation or hateful content, including illegal content that stirs up racial or religious hatred, and direct incitement to violence. The illegal content duty Codes of Practice are currently being scrutinised by Parliament, and Ofcom is anticipated to begin enforcing them in the Spring.
Social media platforms are responsible for ensuring that those seeking to spread hate online are not facilitated by their service. DSIT engages constructively with social media platforms, whilst being clear about that responsibility. DSIT also engages with major platforms on their responses to emerging risks relating to national security and public safety.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of innovation in Stoke-on-Trent.
Answered by Feryal Clark
I set out in my previous answer to the Honourable Member for Stafford, that we are investing £29.8 million in research and innovation projects in Staffordshire.
For example, through the Strength in Places Fund, we are investing £18 million in the Midlands Advanced Ceramics for Industry 4.0 project. This is a consortium of researchers, manufacturers and end-users led by the Lucideon Group, which has sites in Stoke-on-Trent and Stone. It will develop streamlined processes for proving and bringing new advanced ceramics technologies to market faster, with less energy usage and lower carbon emissions.