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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect children from the harms of online pornography prior to the introduction of the Online Safety Bill.

The Online Safety Bill aims to make the UK the safest place in the world to be a child online, but the Government is not waiting for it to become law in order to protect children from online pornography. Ofcom already has responsibility for the regulation of video-sharing platforms and video-on-demand services, which includes requirements to protect children from harmful content such as pornography.

Furthermore, in July 2021, the government published the Online Media Literacy Strategy. The strategy supports the empowerment of users, including young people, with the skills and knowledge they need to make safe and informed decisions online. In June 2021, we also published Safety by Design guidance and a “One Stop Shop” on child online safety. These provide guidance on steps that platforms can take to design safer services and protect children.

In addition, the new Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum is clear that, by the end of secondary school, pupils should be taught about the impact that viewing harmful content, such as pornography, can have on the way people see themselves in relation to others and negatively affect how they behave towards sexual partners.