Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure effective coordination between Government departments to tackle (a) the spread of child sexual abuse (i) material and (ii) harmful algorithms and (b) other online harms to children.

Government departments work together on a range of online safety matters, with child online safety and wellbeing being a particular priority.

The Online Safety Act gives user-to-user and search services new duties to safeguard children from illegal content and activity, including child sexual abuse material and harmful content. Platforms’ duties to tackle illegal content began in March.

The child safety duties will be fully in force from 25 July and require providers to establish significant protections for children, including requiring services to consider how algorithms and recommender systems impact children’s exposure to both illegal and harmful content.