Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to help tackle the sale of unlicensed drugs online.

Drugs ruin lives and devastate communities. The Government is committed to driving down drugs supply in the UK through tough law enforcement against the sale of drugs online, including on the dark web.

We are clear that tech companies must take responsibility for embedding public safety in their system designs in order to prevent harmful material on their platforms. We expect tech companies to have robust processes in place to swiftly remove illegal content.

Our Online Safety Act will introduce measures requiring platforms to remove content relating to the sale of drugs online. This ground-breaking piece of legislation will compel tech companies to consider the risks associated with all elements of their services and take action to keep users safe. This means that tech companies must proactively tackle this type of content from their platforms and prevent users from being exposed to it. If they fail to comply, they risk stiff financial penalties or in the most serious cases, having their sites blocked by the independent regulator, Ofcom. The Online Safety Act delivers the government’s manifesto commitment to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. The Act is a vital piece of legislation, designed to ensure that tech companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users, particularly children.

We work closely with the National Crime Agency, which in partnership with policing colleagues across the UK and internationally is mapping and targeting key offenders operating online, including the dark net markets. Dedicated teams use a range of tools and techniques generally unavailable to most investigators and we make sure they have the resources and powers they need to keep our country safe.

Law enforcement agencies continue to work with internet service providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences such as selling drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

We recognise that gangs are increasingly using social media to sell drugs and exploit vulnerable people to help move their illicit commodities. Through the County Lines Programme, we are developing a better understanding of how these platforms are being used and how to disrupt them.