Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer 28 November to Question 113183, how her Department plans to monitor uptake and observance of the code of practice for social media companies provided for in the Digital Economy Act 2017.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Internet Safety Strategy consultation closed on 7 December. We are now analysing the responses and we will be working with technology companies, charities and other interested stakeholders to develop the code of practice. We will consider plans to monitor uptake and observance of the code of practice ahead of its publication in 2018.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings her Department has had with (a) Facebook and (b) Twitter on (i) fake news and (ii) methods of removing fake news before it becomes viral.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with social media companies on a range of issues including cyber bullying. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.
We are looking at the prevalence of fake news and the role that platforms play in the news environment, as part of our digital charter.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will discuss with telephone providers reasons to make it easier for people to identify direct marketing calls and choose whether to accept them.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
This Government is taking forward a range of measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner's Office's (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law. This includes lowering the threshold under the the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation 2003 (PECR) to make it easier for the ICO to take action against organisations that break the law, resulting in £3,420,000 worth of fines issued.
The Government also recently made an amendment to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), requiring direct marketing companies registered in the UK, to display Calling Line Identification. This new measure will both improve consumer choice, by making it easier for people to refuse and report unwanted marketing calls; and make it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate and take enforcement action against organisations who breach the rules.
The Department has held conversations with telephone providers on the identification of direct marketing callers and will continue do so as part of its strategy to tackle nuisance calls.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will discuss with the Information Commissioner's Office reasons to refer consumer complaints to equivalent bodies overseas in addressing nuisance telephone calls from abroad.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
This Government recently made an amendment to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), requiring direct marketing companies registered in the UK and those making calls on behalf of UK companies from outside the UK, to display Calling Line Identification. This measure will make it easier for the ICO to investigate and take enforcement action against callers who persistently and deliberately flout the rules.
In addtion, both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and Ofcom engage with the Do Not Call Forum of the London Action Plan, which includes overseas regulators with responsibility for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO is joint secretariat and works with other members, including the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, to target organisations, share investigation methods and drive forward coordinated actions. The group are drafting an operational plan to strengthen cooperation at international levelAsked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the press notice, entitled Nuisance calls: funding available for innovative solutions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Small Business Research Initiatives competition for generating solutions to address the problem of nuisance calls.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition has resulted in six successful feasibility studies for innovative call blocking technology to tackle nuisance calls. Further funding is required to test and develop these products before they can be launched on the open market. We will work with our delivery partners to consider how best we can support the next phase of this work.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of Ofcom's programme to monitor and enforce the cancellation and termination arrangements of different providers; and what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers can easily leave their communications contracts in future.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
In June 2015, Ofcom launched a monitoring and enforcement programme to assess the cancellation and termination arrangements of communications providers, and the impact these have on consumers’ ability to exit their communications service contract quickly, conveniently and without error. We will discuss with Ofcom any findings from its programme that show consumers have difficulty ending contracts, and work with them to identify whether action needs to be taken.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce nuisance telephone calls.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government is taking forward a range of measures to tackle nuisance calls, which will increase consumer protection and choice by strengthening the Information Commissioner's Office's (ICO) ability to take enforcement action against organisations that break the law.
Specific actions include consulting on making it a requirement for direct marketing callers to display calling line identification; strengthening the ICO's direct marketing guidance; and exploring extending the ICO’s powers of compulsory audit to more of the organisations that generate nuisance calls. Baroness Neville-Rolfe's speech on the subject to the Direct Marketing Authority can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-nevile-rolfe-on-data-protection-and-nuisance-calls
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to (a) protect children from accessing harmful pornographic material online and (b) ensure age verification is required for access to all sites containing pornographic material online.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government is committed to improving the safety of children online and has a strong track-record of working with the internet industry to drive progress in this area.
In its manifesto, this Government committed to requiring age verification for access to all sites containing pornographic material, which we are currently consulting on. The consultation, launched on 16 February, can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/child-safety-online-age-verification-for-pornography
Family friendly filtering is another important means of protecting children from accessing harmful content, including pornographic material, online. The UK’s four major Internet Service Providers BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media now offer free-of-charge network level filters to their customers. Network level family friendly filters are also in place by default on most mobile phones.
Recently, Government asked Ofcom to lead a social media working group as part of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) to develop a practical guide for providers of social media and interactive services. Membership of the group included Twitter, Facebook, Google, Ask.FM, MindCandy and Microsoft. The guide contains examples of good practice from leading technology companies, and advice from charities and other online child safety experts. Its purpose is to encourage businesses to think about “safety by design” to help make their platforms safer for children and young people under 18.
At the same time, UKCCIS published a guide for parents and carers whose children are using social media. The guide includes practical tips about the use of safety and privacy features on apps and platforms, as well as conversation prompts to help families begin talking about online safety. It also contains pointers to further advice and support.
Both sets of guidance can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis