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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the jurisdiction of the (a) Information Commissioner’s Office and (b) Ofcom to the development of an age appropriate design code of practice for online services.

The Data Protection Act 2018 introduced a requirement on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to produce a statutory code of practice on age-appropriate design. The code will provide guidance on the design standards that the providers of online services, which process personal data and are likely to be accessed by children, will be expected to meet. Earlier this year, the Information Commissioner undertook a public consultation on her draft code.

Separately, we have also set out our plans for world-leading legislation to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online in the Online Harms White Paper. This will make companies more responsible for their users’ safety online, especially children and other vulnerable groups. The government has also committed to developing practical advice for companies on keeping children safe online, including through technical guidance.