Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proposals he plans to include in the forthcoming Online Harms Bill to support women aged over 18 who are experiencing sexual exploitation.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, published in December 2020, sets out expectations on companies to keep their users safe online, including measures to tackle online abuse and exploitation. The Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the Full Government Response, will be ready this year.
Under our proposals, websites, apps and other services which host user-generated content or allow people to talk to others online will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This includes social media, online marketplaces and community forums. Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interaction, that content will be subject to the new legal duty of care. The largest social media companies will be held to account for what they say they are doing to tackle activity and content that is harmful to adults using their services.
The non-consensual disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, is already a criminal offence under section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. This is often referred to as the “revenge porn” offence. Under the new online safety laws, all companies will need to tackle illegal content, including “revenge porn” and illegal online abuse on their services, by making sure it is taken down quickly and using tools to minimise the risk of similar material appearing. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action by the regulator.
The Government is also working with the Law Commission to review the criminal law related to non-consensual image sharing. This includes the creation and sharing of ‘deep-fake’ pornography, upskirting and revenge porn. This review is considering existing offences, including the current “revenge porn” offence, and will identify where there are any gaps in protection already offered to victims. The Law Commission will publish its consultation paper shortly.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the level of accountability of (a) subscription-based adult websites and (b) free community selling pages to prevent online abuse and exploitation.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, published in December 2020, sets out expectations on companies to keep their users safe online, including measures to tackle online abuse and exploitation. The Online Safety Bill, which will give effect to the Full Government Response, will be ready this year.
Under our proposals, websites, apps and other services which host user-generated content or allow people to talk to others online will need to remove and limit the spread of illegal content. This includes social media, online marketplaces and community forums. Where pornography sites host user generated content or facilitate online user interaction, that content will be subject to the new legal duty of care. The largest social media companies will be held to account for what they say they are doing to tackle activity and content that is harmful to adults using their services.
The non-consensual disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, is already a criminal offence under section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. This is often referred to as the “revenge porn” offence. Under the new online safety laws, all companies will need to tackle illegal content, including “revenge porn” and illegal online abuse on their services, by making sure it is taken down quickly and using tools to minimise the risk of similar material appearing. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action by the regulator.
The Government is also working with the Law Commission to review the criminal law related to non-consensual image sharing. This includes the creation and sharing of ‘deep-fake’ pornography, upskirting and revenge porn. This review is considering existing offences, including the current “revenge porn” offence, and will identify where there are any gaps in protection already offered to victims. The Law Commission will publish its consultation paper shortly.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will put in place a staged roadmap for the return of business events similar to that which he put in place for the return of the performing arts.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We recognise the events industry’s disappointment at the delayed reopening of large business conferences and exhibitions.
We have always been clear that our roadmap to recovery is dependent on continued progress against the virus. Due to the sharp rise in cases over recent weeks, we needed to pause the planned 1st October reopening of business conferences and exhibitions.
Meetings of up to 30 for training, education and work purposes can still take place in permitted venues, as per the Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy. Since 11 July, a range of outdoor events have been able to take place, although again this is subject to COVID secure guidelines.
We are also aware that many in the sector support the notion of an events reopening roadmap. We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to assess how we can best support the sector’s safe reopening. The business events pilots we carried out in September will ensure that the correct advice and guidance is put in place to help larger events reopen when it is safe to do so.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to provide additional support to the business events industry as a result of the pause in the planned 1 October 2020 reopening of those events in England.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
We are aware that the events and exhibition industry, as well as other sectors, have been severely impacted by Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19.
Businesses can continue to access the Government’s UK wide support package. This includes the Bounce Back Loans scheme, the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme and, until the end of October, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
On top of existing measures, the Chancellor has expanded the Job Support Scheme to provide temporary support to businesses whose premises have been legally required to close as a direct result of Covid-19 restrictions set by one or more of the four governments of the UK.
The government intends for the Chancellor’s announcement to cover those directly employed by business conferences and exhibition centres which are unable to reopen. Further detail will be set out in due course.
We continue to engage with stakeholders, including through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Events Industry Senior Leaders Advisory Panel, to monitor the situation facing the sector.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make it her policy to produce a long-term plan for the provision of youth services.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
We recognise the importance of investing in our young people, and so in September this year the Chancellor announced a £500 million Youth Investment Fund over five years. This will help build up to 60 new youth centres and refurbish hundreds of existing youth facilities across the country, as well as providing over 100 mobile facilities for harder to reach areas. The fund will also support the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people, and an investment in the youth workforce.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's News story of 10 July 2019, Review launched into statutory guidance for local authorities on providing youth services, what steps she plans to take to actively involve the views of young people in need of such services.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
It is really important that young people are at the heart of the policies we make about them, and that we listen to and take into account their views. The DCMS Youth Steering Group examined the strengths and weaknesses of the current statutory guidance document, and helped develop the questions for the call for evidence which was opened to the public on the 3rd of October.
We are working with a number of youth organisations to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for young people to have a direct say about local services in their areas and how we can make sure the new guidance document is as helpful as possible.
Young people are able to fill out a questionnaire and send their views to us, and can also attend a number of sessions that will be facilitated throughout the country over the next couple of months.