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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the impact of recent trends in the level of incel online content on (a) harms to young people and (b) violence against women and girls.

The online space should not be a refuge for violent misogyny, and this Government is committed to ensuring there are sufficient protections for women and girls online.

Under the Online Safety Bill, all companies will need to protect children and tackle illegal content online, whilst holding platforms to account for their terms of service. Where incel behaviour relates to a criminal offence, or poses a risk to children, platforms will need to tackle this content.

All services will need to proactively remove and prevent users from being exposed to priority illegal content. This includes offences that disproportionately affect women and girls, such as offences relating to sexual images - i.e revenge and extreme pornography - and harassment and stalking.

Women and girls will also be better able to report abuse and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform.