Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what enforcement mechanisms Ofcom will be given to regulate tech companies.

In February 2020, the Government published the initial consultation response to the Online Harms White Paper and announced that it was minded to appoint Ofcom as the online line harms regulator.

Subject to remaining government and parliamentary processes, the regulator will have strong enforcement powers to deal with non-compliance and drive remedial action. The new regulatory framework will introduce a duty of care, overseen by the independent regulator. This will ensure that companies, where appropriate, take prompt, transparent and effective action to address online harms.

In the White Paper we set out that the regulator will have sufficient powers to take effective action against companies that breach regulator requirements. We have consulted on the most appropriate enforcement powers for the regulator, and are considering measures including notices, warning, fines and business disruption measures. Further information will be included in the full government response which will be published in the autumn.