Online Safety Act 2023: Online Hate and Racism

Lord Bassam of Brighton Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Bassam of Brighton]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress has been made by law enforcement agencies in pursuing perpetrators of online hate and racism since the Online Safety Act 2023 came into force.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)]

My Lords, online platforms must now protect users from illegal content and activity, including hate crime, under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom can impose strict penalties for non-compliance. The Act safeguards free speech and does not ban legal content even if it is offensive. It also makes threatening communications a criminal offence. Law enforcement will decide whether the threshold is met. We recognise that online hate remains a serious challenge and continue to work with police, prosecutors and regulators to stamp it out.

[Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the progress that is being made. However, given the steep rise in online hate directed at footballers, referees and fans—with reports of online abuse to the anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out doubling this season—what additional action are the Government proposing to take to ensure that football leagues, Ofcom, and the new Independent Football Regulator are taking steps to improve monitoring and reporting of online abuse, and prioritising action against it?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for the question, and indeed the long-held interest he has had in not just promoting football but helping to tackle the dark and ugly side of the beautiful game. I repeat: where there is a robust legal framework in place to deal with the perpetrators of racism, and other forms of hate crime, we expect the perpetrators of these abhorrent offences to be brought to justice. The UK Football Policing Unit works closely with football authorities, local police forces and, indeed, Kick It Out to investigate and prosecute online football-related hate crime, including seeking court-imposed football banning orders. The Independent Football Regulator will take racism extremely seriously. If an individual has faced legal, regulatory or disciplinary action related to racism, the regulator must consider it under the owners’ and directors’ test. Under the Online Safety Act, as I said, platforms now have a legal duty to safeguard all UK-based users from illegal content activity, including those around football. Platforms must proactively tackle and remove illegal content, including abuse, threats and harassment. Given the damaging impact that online hate crime has on its victims, those guilty of these offences should not be allowed to attend football matches.