Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 19 Apr 2022
Online Safety Bill
"Everyone wants to be safe online and everyone wants to keep their children safe online but, from grooming to religious radicalisation and from disinformation to cruel attacks on the vulnerable, the online world is far from safe. That is why we all agree that we need better controls while we …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: Online Safety Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 19 Apr 2022
Online Safety Bill
"Yes, and I shall return to that point later in my speech.
The Secretary of State’s powers in the Bill need to be addressed. From interested charities to the chief executive of Ofcom, there is consensus that the powers of the Secretary of State in the legislation are too wide. …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: Online Safety Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 19 Apr 2022
Online Safety Bill
"No, I will make some progress, if I may.
A vital tool in countering disinformation is education, and Estonia—an early and frequent victim of Russian disinformation—is a remarkable case study. That is why the Government’s decision to drop Ofcom’s clause 104 media duties is perplexing. Media literacy should be a …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: Online Safety Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 24 Mar 2022
Oral Answers to Questions
"The Online Safety Bill was published last week. MPs on both sides of the House wanted Zach’s law to be included, to protect children with epilepsy from cruel thugs who send flashing images online to trigger epileptic attacks. How many children would this measure save, and why was it not …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 22nd February 2022
Asked by:
John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question
to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the recommendation of the Joint Committee scrutinising the Online Safety Bill that the exemption for news publisher content should be amended to cover consumer and business magazines, what steps her Department has taken to engage with industry bodies to create a definition of news-related material that encompasses IPSO-regulated specialist publishers.
Answered by Chris Philp
- Shadow Home Secretary
Online Safety legislation has been designed to safeguard access to journalistic content. News publishers’ content will be exempted from platforms’ new online safety duties. The criteria against which an organisation qualifies as a publisher is set in the draft Online Safety Bill. If an organisation meets these criteria, then its content will be exempt. The criteria is clear that it captures news publishers' whose principal purpose is the publication of news-related material.
The Bill will also impose a duty on the biggest and riskiest companies, Category 1 companies, to safeguard all journalistic content shared on their platform. Through this duty, these platforms will need to have systems in place to ensure they take into account the importance of the free expression of journalistic content when operating their services. These protections will cover specialist publishers such as consumer and business magazines, where they are engaged in journalism.
Written Question
Tuesday 22nd February 2022
Asked by:
John Nicolson (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question
to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of amending the definition of news-related material in the Online Safety Bill to ensure that content produced by all IPSO regulated publications, including specialist magazine titles, is exempted from platforms’ new online safety duties.
Answered by Chris Philp
- Shadow Home Secretary
Online Safety legislation has been designed to safeguard access to journalistic content. News publishers’ content will be exempted from platforms’ new online safety duties. The criteria against which an organisation qualifies as a publisher is set in the draft Online Safety Bill. If an organisation meets these criteria, then its content will be exempt. The criteria is clear that it captures news publishers' whose principal purpose is the publication of news-related material.
The Bill will also impose a duty on the biggest and riskiest companies, Category 1 companies, to safeguard all journalistic content shared on their platform. Through this duty, these platforms will need to have systems in place to ensure they take into account the importance of the free expression of journalistic content when operating their services. These protections will cover specialist publishers such as consumer and business magazines, where they are engaged in journalism.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 31 Jan 2022
Dormant Assets Bill [Lords]
"I know that the Westminster press corps has been waiting for something exciting to happen in Parliament today, so I am glad to be able to help to provide it. It is good to see the Secretary of State in her place fresh from her “Channel 4 News” interview triumph.
…..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: Dormant Assets Bill [Lords]
Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 26 Jan 2022
Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill
"In 2016, the need for regulation on product security became undeniable when huge swathes of the internet went down. This included websites such as Netflix, Amazon, Twitter, Reddit and Airbnb. The attack was conducted by a botnet, an interconnected series of programmes running on a huge number of hacked devices, …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 17 Jan 2022
BBC Funding
"I thank the Secretary of State for an advance copy of the statement, not that we needed it; she shared her thoughts with Twitter. Plus ça change. We all know that the timing is to distract from the Prime Minister. The Secretary of State claims that the move will protect …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: BBC Funding
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 13 Jan 2022
Draft Online Safety Bill Report
"I also thank my friend, the hon. Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins), for securing this important debate and for his skilled chairing of the Joint Committee. His expertise and diligence ensured a thorough pre-legislative process. I also extend my thanks to the hard-working Committee staff and to the …..."John Nicolson - View Speech
View all John Nicolson (SNP - Ochil and South Perthshire) contributions to the debate on: Draft Online Safety Bill Report