Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of crimes committed using social media in (a) Eastbourne and (b) the South East.

The Online Safety Act gives social media companies new duties to protect all UK users on their services, including users based in Eastbourne and the South East. Under the regulation, platforms need to take steps to reduce the risk their services are used to facilitate illegal activity. They need to remove illegal content when it does appear. They need to offer UK users reporting routes so that they can report illegal content, and they need to take effective action in response. Ofcom oversees these duties and has strong powers to enforce compliance.