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

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the recommendations of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ report, Technology use and the mental health of children and young people, whether it is his Department's policy to give the independent regulator for online safety powers to compel social media companies to share anonymous data for research into the benefits and risks for children and young people.

The government is developing world-leading plans to make the UK a safer place to be online. This includes a duty of care on online companies, overseen by an independent regulator with tough enforcement powers, to hold them to account. The regulator will have the power to require transparency reports from companies outlining what they are doing to protect people online. These reports will be published so parents and children can make informed decisions about their internet use.

We will carefully consider the recent report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, including its recommendations relating to access to anonymous data for research.