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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that the rules, restrictions and bans on advertising products or services in on-line adverts are as similar as possible to rules governing mainstream media advertising; and if he will make a statement.

Advertising standards in the UK are set out in the CAP (The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing) and BCAP (The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising) codes. The BCAP code for broadcasting is enforced by a co-regulatory relationship between the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Ofcom, where Ofcom acts as the ASA’s legal backstop for broadcast advertising. This means failure of an advertiser to stick to an ASA ruling could result in them being referred to Ofcom, who have the power to take legal action. More information about this agreement can be found here: https://www.asa.org.uk/uploads/assets/23cc61df-e57c-4957-81ac15378b7730b7/mou-asa-ofcom.pdf

For the CAP code for non-broadcast advertising, the ASA acts as the industry’s self-regulator. My department is looking at the wider regulatory framework for advertising online through the Online Advertising Programme. In 2019 Government launched a call for evidence on this issue and we will be consulting on this later this year.

Government’s aim is to foster fair, accountable and ethical online advertising that works for citizens, businesses and society as a whole. In particular, we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers have limited exposure to harmful or misleading advertising. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-advertising-call-for-evidence/online-advertising-call-for-evidence#introduction