Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle the sale of illegal drugs on (a) social media and (b) other websites.

Drugs ruin lives and devastate communities. The Government is committed to driving down drugs supply in the UK through tough law enforcement against the sale of drugs online.

Our Online Safety Act will introduce measures requiring platforms, including social media sites, to remove content relating to the sale of illegal drugs online. Under this ground-breaking piece of legislation, tech companies must proactively tackle this type of content and prevent users from being exposed to it. If they fail to comply, they risk stiff financial penalties or in the most serious cases, having their sites blocked by the independent regulator, Ofcom. The Online Safety Act delivers the government’s manifesto commitment to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.

We also recognise that social media, gaming sites and other online platforms are critical enablers in the targeting, grooming and facilitation of county lines exploitation. Through the County Lines Programme, we are developing a better understanding of how these platforms are being used and how to disrupt harmful activity.

Considering other websites, the National Crime Agency, along with policing colleagues across the UK and internationally, is mapping and targeting key offenders operating online. Dedicated teams use a range of tools and techniques generally unavailable to most investigators and we make sure they have the resources and powers they need to keep our country safe.

Law enforcement agencies work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as selling controlled drugs. To support this, proposals are also being taken forward in the Criminal Justice Bill to create a new power enabling law enforcement to suspend IP addresses and/or domain names being used for criminal purposes. This new power will allow agencies to obtain a court order to formally request action by organisations both domestically and outside of the UK.

Furthermore, the Government has commissioned the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to undertake a review into internet-facilitated drug markets. The ACMD ran a call for evidence which closed in January and expects to publish its findings later this year.