Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 people can effectively exercise their legal right to object to the use of their personal data for direct marketing.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published information on the right to object to the processing of personal for the purpose of direct marketing here: Right to object | ICO.
Anyone concerned about the handling of their personal data by any organisation has the right to complain to the ICO. The ICO has a range of tools to tackle the unlawful processing of personal data, including powers to issue substantial monetary penalties for serious breaches of the data protection legislation. Information about the ICO’s enforcement action can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 the cumulative impact of the rollout of digital street infrastructure on (a) public digital connectivity, (b) local amenity, and (c) compliance with telecommunications licensing conditions.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As a result of commercial market and publicly funded rollout, over 88% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, up from less than 10% in 2019. In their Connected Nations Spring update, published 8 May 2025, Ofcom reported that as of January 2025, 5G coverage was available outside of 96% of premises across the UK from at least one operator, up from 69% in May 2022.
The impact of digital infrastructure on local amenity is assessed by local planning authorities on a case by case basis. Planning conditions in legislation ensure that operators minimise the visual impact of new network development on the surrounding area as much as possible.
It is the responsibility of Ofcom to ensure operators comply with their telecommunications licensing conditions.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if his Department will take steps to ensure that (a) X and (b) other social media platforms prevent their artificial intelligence systems from promoting (i) racist and (ii) anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties took effect on 17 March. These duties require user-to-user and search services to implement robust measures designed to reduce the risks that users encounter illegal content and activity, including from illegal anti-Semitic content.
These duties apply to AI generated content in the same way as ‘real’ content - i.e. where it is shared on an in-scope service and is either illegal content or content which is harmful to children. Ofcom is responsible for taking enforcement action as appropriate and has published recommendations for how providers should fulfil their duties in codes of practice.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 improve broadband speeds in rural parts of Maidenhead constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 99% of homes and businesses in the Maidenhead constituency can access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 87% have access to a gigabit-capable broadband connection (>1000 Mbps).
To improve this coverage further, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and East Berkshire, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas that are unlikely to be otherwise reached by suppliers’ commercial rollout. Approximately 2,000 premises in the Maidenhead constituency are currently expected to benefit from this contract. The vast majority of these premises are in rural parts of the constituency.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 help tackle disinformation through AI-generated deepfakes.
Answered by Feryal Clark
We have recently announced that we are delivering on our manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes through the Crime and Policing Bill.
Deepfakes more broadly are captured by the Online Safety Act where they are shared on social media platforms and are considered illegal content or content which is harmful to children.
For those who think that there are no repercussions for online activity, we saw convictions for illegal online activity following the summer riots, including under the new False Communications Offence.