Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will encourage Ofcom to conduct a review into the application of the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013 to services provided by TripAdvisor in the UK.

The Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013 set out detailed provisions regarding the operation of the defence against liability for defamation created by section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013 for website operators hosting user-generated content. It is for the parties involved to decide whether to follow the procedures specified, which are not obligatory. No information is held on how the provisions have been used in the case of individual website operators.

The Ministry of Justice intends to carry out a post-implementation review of the working of the Act and the Regulations in 2019. The Government has no plans to invite Ofcom to carry out a review of the Regulations.