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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to (a) regulate Facebook Metaverse, (b) counter potential misinformation and abuse and (c) help ensure safeguarding for vulnerable people on that platform.

The Government is committed to driving forward a future-facing and nimble approach to regulating digital technologies which unlocks innovation while also tackling its most serious downsides. As part of this commitment, we will bring forward the Online Safety Bill, which aims to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.

The Online Safety Bill will apply to all services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other, regardless of whether users can interact through online forums or as avatars in a digital environment. This includes the Metaverse.

The Government takes the issues of misinformation and abuse extremely seriously. The Bill will require services in scope to tackle illegal misinformation, disinformation and abuse, and to protect children from harmful content. The biggest platforms will also need to address legal content that may cause significant physical or psychological harm to adults, including some types of misinformation and disinformation such as anti-vaccination content and falsehoods about COVID-19, as well as abuse. Users will also be better able to report abuse, and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform. When abuse crosses a criminal threshold, the police have the power to identify anonymous trolls and hold them to account. Ofcom will also be required to establish an expert advisory committee on misinformation and disinformation.