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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment the Government has made of levels of parental confidence in the online environment.

Ofcom’s 2019 report “Children and parents: media use and attitudes” indicates that three-quarters of parents of children who go online feel they know enough to keep their child safe online. However, parents’ confidence in protecting their children online declines with the age of the child – from 81% of parents of children aged 5 to 7, to 74% of parents of children aged 12 to 15.

The Government is committed to supporting parents in preventing and dealing with online harm. The Online Harms White Paper sets out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. Ahead of legislation, the government will develop an online media literacy strategy. This strategy will ensure a coordinated and strategic approach to online media literacy education and awareness for children and parents.