Tackling serious violence is a top priority for the government through measures set out in the Serious Violence Strategy and further initiatives to tackle knife crime and serious violence more generally, including the Offensive Weapons Act which received Royal Assent on 16 May.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Online Harms White Paper, published in April, sets out plans for a regulatory framework to further ensure companies take action to address online harmful behaviour, including the sale of weapons and other illegal goods and services. A new statutory duty of care will require companies to take more responsibility for harm caused by content or activity on their services. Compliance with this duty of care will be overseen and enforced by an independent regulator. The regulator will issue codes of practice on what companies need to do to fulfil their duty of care, working with law enforcement for codes of practice on illegal harms to ensure they adequately keep pace with the threat.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4115", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margot James"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stourbridge"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Margot James"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-05-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-05-22T15:52:08.827Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-05-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Internet: Offensive Weapons"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps is he taking to ensure that social media companies tackle the advertising of online sales of knives and other weapons used in violent crime.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4093", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Stephen McPartland"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stevenage"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Stephen McPartland"} ], "uin" : "254190"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1126532", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1126532/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government is committed to upholding free speech, and legislation is already in place to protect these fundamental rights. However, this freedom cannot be an excuse to cause harm or spread hatred.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Online Harms White Paper sets out the Government's proposals for making the UK the safest place to be online. The proposed independent regulator will have an obligation to protect users' rights online, particularly rights to privacy and freedom of expression. It will ensure that the new regulatory requirements do not lead to a disproportionately risk averse response from companies that unduly limits freedom of expression, including by limiting participation in public debate.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4115", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margot James"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stourbridge"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Margot James"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-05-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-05-22T11:05:07.677Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-05-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Social Media: Freedom of Expression"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that social media companies respect freedom of speech when regulating content.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/373", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir David Davis"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Haltemprice and Howden"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr David Davis"} ], "uin" : "254131"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1126564", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1126564/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
During the period 01/04/2018 - 31/03/2019, a total of 16 employees (1.0% of the total employees employed in the department for the same period) took sickness absence for reasons relating to stress. This sickness absence accounted for 10.1% of total sickness absence taken in the Department, and cost the Department approximately £70,130.<\/p>
<\/p>
The department has implemented a number of policies to provide support for staff suffering from stress, including:<\/p>
<\/p>
<\/p>
DCMS has sought to promote an environment where individuals feel comfortable to talk openly about stress and mental health.The Department is a signatory to the \u2018Time to Change Pledge\u2019 and raises awareness of mental health and coping strategies through national campaigns such as the \u2018Time to Talk\u2019 day and the Mental Health Awareness Week. The department also organises \u2018Mindfulness\u2019 sessions for employees.<\/p>
<\/strong><\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4115", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Margot James"}
}
, "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stourbridge"}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Margot James"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-05-22", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-05-22T11:04:07.903Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2019-05-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Sick Leave"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/151", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tom Brake"}
}
, "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Carshalton and Wallington"}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Tom Brake"}
], "uin" : "254073"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1126604", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1126604/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The information requested can be found on pages 64-67 of the Design Council\u2019s report The Design Economy 2018 which can be found here:<\/p> <\/p>