Oral Answers to Questions

Kanishka Narayan Excerpts

Wednesday 12th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking to keep people safe online.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Kanishka Narayan)]

This Government are committed to keeping people safe online. For the first time, platforms now have a legal duty to ensure that they are protecting users from illegal content and, in particular, safeguarding children from harmful content, but we have gone further still. Within weeks this team have made self-harm and cyber-flashing, and now strangulation, extreme violence and pornography, priority offences. We will go further still by backing Ofcom to make sure that enforcement is robust too.

[Bob Blackman]

I thank the Minister for his answer, but the reality is that chatbots are prompting young people to commit suicide and to self-harm. What action can the Minister take to make sure that these chatbots are taken down and do not give this sort of advice?

[Kanishka Narayan]

I thank the hon. Member for raising these cases, which are very much in our minds. Each one is a deep tragedy. We have looked very carefully at this issue. Some chatbots, including live search and user-to-user engagement, are in scope of the Online Safety Act 2023, and we want to ensure that enforcement against them, where relevant, is robust. The Secretary of State has commissioned work to make sure that, if there are any gaps in the legislation, they will be looked at fully and robust action will be taken too.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee.

[Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)]

The Minister says that the Government are looking deeply into this issue, but as part of my Committee’s inquiry into misinformation and algorithms, we heard conflicting evidence from Ministers and Ofcom as to whether generative artificial intelligence is covered by the Online Safety Act. The Government have refused to implement our call for legislation to bring generative AI under the same categorisation as other high-risk services. Under what circumstances is chatbot advice covered by the Online Safety Act, and will there be enforcement?

[Kanishka Narayan]

I thank my hon. Friend, both for the point she makes and for her ongoing insight and expertise on these questions. Let me be very clear about the current scope: chatbots that involve live search and user-to-user engagement are in scope of the Online Safety Act, as I mentioned. We are continuing to review its scope, and the Secretary of State has commissioned work. We will report its findings to the House.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Victoria Collins (Harpenden and Berkhamsted) (LD)]

I would like to join hon. Members in really pushing on questions about AI chatbots. Their human-like, assertive nature is filling a gap and many people, including children, are entrusting chatbots with medical opinions, legal advice and emotional support, with fatal consequences and without clear accountability. I know that this has been touched on, but it is really important. Ofcom explicitly includes only user to user or search, so one to one, which is actually where there are some of the most acute harms, is not covered. Will the Minister commit to working with Ofcom on classification, so we can ensure the responsible use of this technology and protect children from the unregulated harms of the growing dependence on chatbots?

[Kanishka Narayan]

Let me be very clear: of course we will. We have already both engaged with Ofcom and commissioned further work on this question, and we will report on that at the earliest opportunity.

[Dame Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)]

5. What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the life sciences sector on economic growth.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

6. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in tackling drug dealing on social media.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Kanishka Narayan)]

Let me assure the hon. Member that we are taking tough action against drug dealing, both offline and online. There is now a strong new duty under the Online Safety Act to prevent illegal activity, including drug dealing. Ofcom has a duty to enforce that. We will continue to make sure it has the full backing to do so.

[Wera Hobhouse]

Drug dealing is absolutely rampant on social media. The Minister might be aware of the campaign I lead, together with the University of Bath, against spice-spiked vapes in school and the terrible harm they are causing. We are increasingly frustrated that Ofcom does not use its power under the Online Safety Act to hold social media companies to account. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the problem with Ofcom, so that it ensures that young people in particular are kept safe online?

[Kanishka Narayan]

The hon. Member’s campaign has been noticed and I would be very happy to meet her to discuss how we can work together to ensure that enforcement is robust on this question.

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Sadly, the glamorisation on TV of drug taking is not a new phenomenon, but I particularly worry about the nature of the internet and social media, and about the short clips that people watch in which the true consequences of drug taking and drug culture are not really shown properly. What can the Minister do to use the internet and social media for good, and show young people in my constituency the dangers of drug taking and drug culture?

[Kanishka Narayan]

My hon. Friend is a master of short clips in the Chamber, so I will take both his skill and his sincerity on this question to heart and work with him to ensure we robustly enforce the duties already placed on Ofcom under the Online Safety Act.

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

7. What steps her Department is taking to ensure the equitable regional distribution of funding by UK Research and Innovation.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Kanishka Narayan)]

A British technological revolution is going to ensure that working people see good jobs and local prosperity wherever they live and wherever they call home, right across the country. A record £86 billion in research and development investment will spread that opportunity to every region, from Birmingham to Belfast. With UKRI’s £500 million local innovation partnerships fund, we will ensure that local leaders turn ideas into the industries of the future.

[Maya Ellis]

The £54 million UKRI global talent fund, which was designed to attract and retain international research talent, has excluded all northern universities from its funding. UKRI waived eligibility criteria to ensure that the devolved nations received some of the funding. Meanwhile, Lancaster University, a huge driver in the economic growth of Lancashire and the north-west which reached the highest eligibility criteria, received none. Will the Minister commit to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s recommendation for greater transparency in the data and methodology used in UKRI assessments, and for an institution’s size and its role within a region’s economy to be taken into account when making future decisions on UKRI funding?

[Kanishka Narayan]

Let me assure my hon. Friend that the Government are committed to ensuring that every region benefits from the UK’s world-leading research base. That is exactly why we are backing Lancaster University with £4.9 million for its cyber-focus project to ensure that the region’s cyber-sector grows. With my hon. Friend’s expertise in digital innovation and her strong advocacy for the north-west, we will continue to ensure that R&D funding for the north-west is on the up.

[Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)]

The Minister will know that Harper Adams University is a world-leading research institution. He will also be aware of the university’s agritech research centre. May I invite him, on behalf of the vice-chancellor, to visit the university to look at the excellent work on robotics, AI and sustainable farming, in particular eco-farming and increasing productivity in a way that is sustainable?

[Kanishka Narayan]

That is a very easy yes, combining my interest in agriculture and technology. I will take the right hon. Member up on his offer.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.