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175761

	registered interest
	date	26/01/2015
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Social Media
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to regulate social media providers.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	221971
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2015 answer text The Government has not taken any steps to regulate social media providers beyond the basic provision of the criminal law. The open nature of the Internet has been central to its ability to deliver innovative services that consumers want and need, and we believe it is important that this should continue. We do, however, expect social media companies to act responsibly towards their consumers and have encouraged them to put robust processes in place, including having clear and easy to use reporting buttons, and to act promptly when abuse is reported. answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 02/02/2015 14:49:55 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

62859

	registered interest
	date	19/06/2014
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Direct Selling
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to tackle unsolicited marketing telephone calls originating from outside the UK.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	201555
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/06/2014 answer text <p>Unsolicited marketing calls originating from outside the United Kingdom (UK) made by or on behalf of UK companies are legally required not to call a number that is registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which is provided under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003. Protection is also provided under the PECR if consumers have previously notified the caller that they do not wish to receive such calls and for automated recorded messages calls, which require prior consent. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) considers complaints and can issue a monetary penalty of up to £500,000. Calls made from abroad by overseas companies fall outside the jurisdiction of the UK.</p><p>Also, there are various steps that consumers can take to block nuisance calls from getting through to them. Most telecom service providers offer a range of services, usually for a small charge or for free, that can help to reduce the need to answer such calls. These include ‘Calling Line Identification Display', ‘Anonymous Call Rejection' and ‘Choose to Refuse'. BT's ‘Choose to Refuse' service allows consumers to block numbers by specifying numbers that they do not want to receive calls from. Also, 'Caller Display' enables a consumer to choose to ignore calls including those that withhold their number and ‘Anonymous Call Rejection' blocks incoming calls that withhold their number; although this may include some calls that consumers may want to receive. Additionally, telephone handsets and plug in devices are commercially available from the internet and high shops that can help to block unwanted nuisance calls.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 26/06/2014 15:10:06 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

48177

	registered interest
	date	10/04/2014
	answering body	Department for Culture Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Culture, Media and Sport
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to prevent or reduce nuisance telephone calls.
	tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
	tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
	uin	196456
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2014 answer text <p>Tackling nuisance calls is a priority for the Government and we are pursuing a range of options for reform, both legislative and non-legislative, which will help to make a significant difference. On 30 March 2014, we published our Nuisance Calls Action Plan, which sets out proposals including legislation that will enable Ofcom to share information more easily with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and we will also be consulting on lowering the legal threshold, to enable the ICO to issue more monetary penalties to organisations that break the rules. Further details of the Action Plan can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled</a></p><p>Steps taken so far include having improved signposting and information, clearer advice for consumers, a simpler complaints process, greater use by regulators of their powers, including the ICO and Ofcom having issued monetary penalties totalling £2.59million for calls and SMS text messages and work on improving the ability of communication service providers to trace calls. We will continue to work with regulators, consumer groups and industry to deliver better protection for consumers.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed Mr Edward Vaizey question first answered 28/04/2014 12:00:00 answering member 1580 label Biography information for Lord Vaizey of Didcot
	tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman