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 strengthen protections for victims of sexual abuse from (a) harassment and (b) threatening or coercive communication online.

The Secretary of State and I have acted to prevent platforms hosting child sexual abuse material and material that contributes to violence against women and girls by banning AI nudification apps and requiring platforms to take down non-consensual intimate images 48 hours after they are reported. We have always been clear that there is still more to do.

Under the Online Safety Act, services must have proportionate systems and processes in place to prevent users from encountering illegal content including online harassment and threatening or coercive communications. These duties are enforced by Ofcom, which can hold companies to account where they fail to protect users.

The Act also strengthened the criminal law, including new offences for threatening and false communications , enabling law enforcement to take action against online abusers.