Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what comparative assessment she has made of the regulatory approach by (a) the UK and (b) other advanced digital economies on enforcing a minimum age for the use of encrypted messaging services.

The UK’s Online Safety Act will make the UK the safest place to be a child online. The strongest protections in the Online Safety Act are for children. Providers which have age restrictions need to specify in their terms of service what measures they use to prevent underage access and apply these terms consistently The Online Safety Act will require user-to-user and search services to implement robust processes to tackle illegal content and safeguard children on their platforms.

Under the Act, where an in-scope provider makes significant changes to their service, they will be required to update their illegal content and children’s risk assessment. Ofcom will have strong investigatory powers to determine the impact of changes that particular providers make. Where Ofcom finds that a functionality is a risk factor for illegal content or harm to children on particular services, then it is empowered to set out steps providers should take to mitigate this. Ofcom have robust enforcement powers available to use against companies who fail to fulfil their duties, including imposing substantial fines.