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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Ofcom’s proposed enforcement powers in the Online Safety Bill.

Ofcom will enforce the new online safety regime with tough powers to take action against companies breaching their duties, including substantial fines, requiring companies to take action and even blocking services in the most serious cases.

The Bill will also provide for Ofcom to pursue criminal action where a senior manager fails to ensure that their company complies with its information requirements.

We are confident these robust enforcement powers will push strong compliance, hold the tech sector to account and incentivise companies to go further in protecting people online.