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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the online platforming of hate speech.

Ministers have regular discussions with their Cabinet Colleagues on a range of issues, including tackling online hate speech. The Home Office are working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), civil society partners and social media platforms to encourage victim reporting of online hate crime during the pandemic and to ensure that all police forces are providing reassurance to affected communities. Policy for combating online hate crime remains with the Home Office.

Ensuring the UK is the safest place in the world to go online is a priority for the Government. We are pressing ahead with legislation to establish a new Online Harms regulatory framework which will protect users from harm. The Government’s Online Harms White Paper, published in April 2019, set out our plans for world-leading legislation, by making companies more responsible for their users’ safety online.