Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Digital Economy Act 2017, what guidance her Department has issued to providers of online social media platforms on their obligations to (a) report and (b) cooperate with the police on instances of serious digital abuse.

The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), which the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport co-chairs, published a practical guide for providers of social media and interactive services. The guide has examples of good practice to encourage businesses to think about "safety by design",including advice on informing the police of illegal content and co-operating with law enforcement requests to remove such content.

The guide can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-council-for-child-internet-safety-ukccis

Additionally, we are introducing a code of practice for social media providers, as required by the Digital Economy Act, which will set out guidance about what social media providers should do in relation to harmful conduct on their platforms. The code of practice will include guidance on arrangements for notification by users; the process for dealing with notifications; terms and conditions in relation to these arrangements and processes; and, the giving information to the public about the action providers take against harmful behaviour. We are consulting on how to proceed with this as part of the Internet Safety Strategy and aim to publish the code in 2018.