Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with major social media companies on their obligations under the Online Safety Act 2023 to remove content inciting gang violence.

We are continously working to enhance our understanding of how social media platforms are being used by gangs, and how content translates to ‘real-world’ violence. We are investing in targeted law enforcement capabilities to disrupt online gang operations and reduce the crime and violence they bring to our communities. The National Crime Agency is working in partnership with policing colleagues across the UK and internationally to map and target key offenders operating online, including the darknet markets.

The Online Safety Act 2023 is a key mechanism to monitor and tackle illegal content online. It requires providers within the scope of the Act to implement measures to remove illegal content, including that related to inciting violence. If providers fail to abide by their duties under the Act, Ofcom, as the independent regulator, can now enforce against the illegal content duties and have already launched several enforcement programmes to monitor compliance with the regime.

The Government is closely monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the Online Safety Act and is committed to ensuring it delivers the necessary protections to ensure a safer online environment and tackles illegal content.

Exposure to violent content online, including knife-sales material, can have real-world impacts. Following the independent end-to-end review of online knife sales conducted by Commander Steve Clayman, we are working to tackle the impacts of online knife-sales content on ‘real-world’ knife crime.