Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to (a) protect children and young people from online exploitation and (b) ensure that digital safety measures do not adversely impact online freedoms.

The strongest protections in the Online Safety Act are for children.

All relevant services in scope of the Act are required to put in place systems and processes to proactively tackle child sex abuse material, and to reduce the risk of abuse and exploitation taking place on their service. These services must implement effective reporting mechanisms and will have new duties to report child abuse material to UK law enforcement. The government recognises the benefits of children exploring freely online and accessing its benefits, ensuring their safety as they do so. We live in a digital age and must strike the right balance so that children can access these benefits while we continue to prioritise their safety.