Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposals on the expansion of the text and data mining exception on the financial gains of non-UK based technology companies.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The exception only applies to copying for data mining conducted in the UK. The new exception will make the UK one of the most attractive nations for businesses to carry out data mining, whether basing their whole business here or the part which conducts data mining. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.
This provision supports the National AI Strategy by helping to capture the benefits of AI innovation in the UK and ensure that AI technologies benefit all sectors and regions. This applies to all sizes of firms, whether established, start-up, growing, or even unicorn.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the text and data mining exception on levels of growth within the artificial intelligence sector as a percentage.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The new exception will put the UK amongst the leading nations globally who support AI development and wider use of text and data mining. It will make data more accessible, and help unlock the value of data sharing across the economy to drive innovation and growth and support the public good.
An academic study estimates that the effort required from researchers to undertake systematic reviews, an important part of research and innovation, is cut by 75% when using text mining services. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish a list of instances in the last three years where creative industries have failed to licence their content to artificial intelligence developers.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but very limited quantitative evidence was submitted. However, smaller users such as small businesses and start-ups, as well as many researchers, have indicated that - when seeking to analyse works from multiple sources - licences have been out of reach on the grounds of cost or complexity.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the financial impact on the creative industries of his decision to expand the text and data mining exception.
Answered by Jane Hunt
The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but received very limited quantitative evidence. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid. The proposed exception will be targeted to limit negative impacts, and the government welcomes further evidence from rights holders on how to best achieve this.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect shellfish waters around the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
My department has designated 96 shellfish water areas in England where water quality is protected from harmful bacteria. Additional investment by water companies is being prioritised in waters with significant economic production of shellfish. In addition, we are delivering targeted action and practical support to farmers to reduce pollution from agriculture. This is on top of support to the sector through the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What diplomatic steps her Department is taking to promote media freedom globally.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK is a longstanding champion of media freedom globally. We co-founded the Media Freedom Coalition, and continue to work with them, and partners to address the deteriorating global media freedom situation. We commend all journalists for their bravery in these unprecedented times.
In Ukraine we are working with partners to support journalists, providing direct support to enable independent journalism to continue including for example security advice and facilitation of international monitoring (including of potential war crimes).
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote global media freedom.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We commend all journalists in Ukraine for their bravery in these unprecedented times and condemn the censorship of independent journalists in Russia.
The UK is a longstanding champion of media freedom globally, which is vital to realising the network of liberty. My noble friend, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, led the UK delegation at the annual Global Conference for Media Freedom in Estonia last month.
We co-founded the Media Freedom Coalition, and continue to work with them, and partners to address the deteriorating global media freedom situation.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What diplomatic steps he is taking to help protect the rights and freedoms of journalists throughout the world.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK is committed to the protection of journalists. We have launched a campaign to shine a global spotlight on the subject of media freedom and increase the costs to those who abuse it. This includes liaising with multilateral, bilateral and civil society partners to explore the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms and funds that already exist, and consider where we can best add value.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether Ofcom will have the primary role in the data provision and analysis of the forthcoming consultation on advertising restrictions.
Answered by Margot James
DCMS and DHSC will jointly consult on introducing a 9pm watershed on TV and similar protection for children viewing adverts online. The consultation will be launched before the end of the year. We are working with a range of stakeholders including Ofcom, the Advertising Standards Authority and the National Institute for Health Research Obesity Policy Research Unit to understand how the evidence base for action in these areas develops and will provide more detail in due course.
Asked by: John Whittingdale (Conservative - Maldon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what role his Department plans to play in the forthcoming consultation on advertising restrictions as part of the obesity strategy; and if he will ensure that Ofcom have the primary role in data provision and analysis for broadcasting and online advertising.
Answered by Margot James
DCMS and DHSC will jointly consult on introducing a 9pm watershed on TV and similar protection for children viewing adverts online. The consultation will be launched before the end of the year. We are working with a range of stakeholders including Ofcom, the Advertising Standards Authority and the National Institute for Health Research Obesity Policy Research Unit to understand how the evidence base for action in these areas develops and will provide more detail in due course.