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1538933

registered interest
date	02/11/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to amending any aspects of the Guidance from the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to the Age-Verification Regulator for Online Pornography, published in January 2018 and presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 27 of the Digital Economy Act 2017, before commencement of provisions in Part 3 of that Act; and if so, which aspects they will amend.
tabling member printed	Baroness Benjamin
uin	HL3137
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2022 answer text <p>In October 2019, His Majesty’s Government announced its decision to use the Online Safety Bill to protect children from pornography. The provisions in this Bill will provide greater protection to children than Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act. It will cover a wider range of services, including social media companies and search services, which were not in scope of the Digital Economy Act, and which play a significant role in enabling children to access harmful content online.</p><p><br>There is no statutory obligation to update the guidance mentioned in section 27 of the Digital Economy Act. As HM Government intends to repeal Part 3 of that Act through the Online Safety Bill, amending this guidance would not serve any purpose as it will not be used. Instead, Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the online safety regime, will set out the steps companies can take to protect children from harmful content such as pornography in codes of practice. Ofcom will also publish guidance for companies to meet the duty to protect children from published pornography in Part 5 of the Bill. The Secretary of State will also have a general power to issue guidance to Ofcom about the exercise of its functions under the Bill.</p><p><br>Ofcom will have a range of powers to assess whether companies are fulfilling their duties, and will be empowered to enforce the new regulatory regime. The British Board of Film Classification’s designation as the age verification regulator under the Digital Economy Act was revoked following the October 2019 announcement.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay grouped question UIN HL3138 HL3139 HL3140 HL3141 question first answered 17/11/2022 13:04:38 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	4167 label Biography information for Baroness Benjamin

1538934

registered interest
date	02/11/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are under a statutory obligation to update the Guidance from the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to the Age-Verification Regulator for Online Pornography, published in January 2018 and presented to Parliament pursuant to section 27 of the Digital Economy Act 2017; and if so, how often they are obliged to update it.
tabling member printed	Baroness Benjamin
uin	HL3138
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2022 answer text <p>In October 2019, His Majesty’s Government announced its decision to use the Online Safety Bill to protect children from pornography. The provisions in this Bill will provide greater protection to children than Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act. It will cover a wider range of services, including social media companies and search services, which were not in scope of the Digital Economy Act, and which play a significant role in enabling children to access harmful content online.</p><p><br>There is no statutory obligation to update the guidance mentioned in section 27 of the Digital Economy Act. As HM Government intends to repeal Part 3 of that Act through the Online Safety Bill, amending this guidance would not serve any purpose as it will not be used. Instead, Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the online safety regime, will set out the steps companies can take to protect children from harmful content such as pornography in codes of practice. Ofcom will also publish guidance for companies to meet the duty to protect children from published pornography in Part 5 of the Bill. The Secretary of State will also have a general power to issue guidance to Ofcom about the exercise of its functions under the Bill.</p><p><br>Ofcom will have a range of powers to assess whether companies are fulfilling their duties, and will be empowered to enforce the new regulatory regime. The British Board of Film Classification’s designation as the age verification regulator under the Digital Economy Act was revoked following the October 2019 announcement.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay grouped question UIN HL3137 HL3139 HL3140 HL3141 question first answered 17/11/2022 13:04:38 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	4167 label Biography information for Baroness Benjamin

1538935

registered interest
date	02/11/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to amending any aspects of the Guidance on Age-Verification Arrangements, approved by the House of Lords on 11 December 2018 (HL Deb col 1307), before commencement of the provisions in Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 in the event that the British Board of Film Classification is re-designated as the regulator.
tabling member printed	Baroness Benjamin
uin	HL3139
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2022 answer text <p>In October 2019, His Majesty’s Government announced its decision to use the Online Safety Bill to protect children from pornography. The provisions in this Bill will provide greater protection to children than Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act. It will cover a wider range of services, including social media companies and search services, which were not in scope of the Digital Economy Act, and which play a significant role in enabling children to access harmful content online.</p><p><br>There is no statutory obligation to update the guidance mentioned in section 27 of the Digital Economy Act. As HM Government intends to repeal Part 3 of that Act through the Online Safety Bill, amending this guidance would not serve any purpose as it will not be used. Instead, Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the online safety regime, will set out the steps companies can take to protect children from harmful content such as pornography in codes of practice. Ofcom will also publish guidance for companies to meet the duty to protect children from published pornography in Part 5 of the Bill. The Secretary of State will also have a general power to issue guidance to Ofcom about the exercise of its functions under the Bill.</p><p><br>Ofcom will have a range of powers to assess whether companies are fulfilling their duties, and will be empowered to enforce the new regulatory regime. The British Board of Film Classification’s designation as the age verification regulator under the Digital Economy Act was revoked following the October 2019 announcement.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay grouped question UIN HL3137 HL3138 HL3140 HL3141 question first answered 17/11/2022 13:04:38 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	4167 label Biography information for Baroness Benjamin

1538936

registered interest
date	02/11/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are under a statutory obligation to update the Guidance on Age-Verification Arrangements approved by the House of Lords on 11 December 2018 (HL Deb col 1307); and if so, how often they are obliged to update it.
tabling member printed	Baroness Benjamin
uin	HL3140
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2022 answer text <p>In October 2019, His Majesty’s Government announced its decision to use the Online Safety Bill to protect children from pornography. The provisions in this Bill will provide greater protection to children than Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act. It will cover a wider range of services, including social media companies and search services, which were not in scope of the Digital Economy Act, and which play a significant role in enabling children to access harmful content online.</p><p><br>There is no statutory obligation to update the guidance mentioned in section 27 of the Digital Economy Act. As HM Government intends to repeal Part 3 of that Act through the Online Safety Bill, amending this guidance would not serve any purpose as it will not be used. Instead, Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the online safety regime, will set out the steps companies can take to protect children from harmful content such as pornography in codes of practice. Ofcom will also publish guidance for companies to meet the duty to protect children from published pornography in Part 5 of the Bill. The Secretary of State will also have a general power to issue guidance to Ofcom about the exercise of its functions under the Bill.</p><p><br>Ofcom will have a range of powers to assess whether companies are fulfilling their duties, and will be empowered to enforce the new regulatory regime. The British Board of Film Classification’s designation as the age verification regulator under the Digital Economy Act was revoked following the October 2019 announcement.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay grouped question UIN HL3137 HL3138 HL3139 HL3141 question first answered 17/11/2022 13:04:38 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	4167 label Biography information for Baroness Benjamin

1464811

registered interest
date	23/05/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Online Safety Bill will ensure that commercial pornography websites do not carry any illegal content, such as (1) extreme pornography, or (2) prohibited images of children.
tabling member printed	Baroness Merron
uin	HL434
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2022 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill principally applies to services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other, and to search engines. Where commercial pornography websites facilitate user-generated content, they will have to deliver the illegal content duties under the Bill and, where the service is likely to be accessed by children, to protect them from harmful content. These will ensure that all platforms in scope of the Bill tackle illegal user-generated content on their services, including extreme pornography and prohibited images of children.</p><p>Where the illegal content is not user-generated but rather is created and published by the relevant company on its own site, then that website service is likely to be committing an offence so will potentially be liable for prosecution. Part 5 of the Bill creates a new duty on providers of published pornography, which includes some dedicated commercial pornography websites, to protect children from accessing pornographic content.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay grouped question UIN HL435 question first answered 08/06/2022 13:45:07 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	347 label Biography information for Baroness Merron

1464812

registered interest
date	23/05/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Online Safety Bill will address the widespread availability of (1) sexually violent, or (2) abusive pornography, online that would not be approved for sale on DVD.
tabling member printed	Baroness Merron
uin	HL435
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2022 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill principally applies to services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other, and to search engines. Where commercial pornography websites facilitate user-generated content, they will have to deliver the illegal content duties under the Bill and, where the service is likely to be accessed by children, to protect them from harmful content. These will ensure that all platforms in scope of the Bill tackle illegal user-generated content on their services, including extreme pornography and prohibited images of children.</p><p>Where the illegal content is not user-generated but rather is created and published by the relevant company on its own site, then that website service is likely to be committing an offence so will potentially be liable for prosecution. Part 5 of the Bill creates a new duty on providers of published pornography, which includes some dedicated commercial pornography websites, to protect children from accessing pornographic content.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay grouped question UIN HL434 question first answered 08/06/2022 13:45:07 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	347 label Biography information for Baroness Merron

1464813

registered interest
date	23/05/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Online Safety Bill will contain provisions to enable Ofcom (1) to proactively investigate pornography websites' compliance with the law, and (2) to take swift enforcement action where necessary.
tabling member printed	Baroness Merron
uin	HL436
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/06/2022 answer text <p>Ofcom will have a range of robust powers at its disposal to help it assess compliance with the Bill. Ofcom will have the power to require information from regulated companies and relevant third parties, to interview employees, to require a company to undertake, and pay for, a skilled person’s report, to enter and inspect companies’ premises, and to carry out audits on services to assess compliance. Ofcom will need to take a proportionate approach in exercising these powers, and will be able to use information from a wide range of sources to help prioritise its investigation and enforcement activity.</p><p>Ofcom will also have robust enforcement powers to take action against companies which fail to comply. Those powers will include being able to require companies to take action to come into compliance or remedy any breach, impose fines and, in exceptional circumstances, to apply to the Court for business disruption measures to block or restrict access to non-compliant services. The Bill also provides for interim business disruption measures, which will provide a fast track, where appropriate, to blocking measures.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay question first answered 08/06/2022 13:48:42 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	347 label Biography information for Baroness Merron

1461160

registered interest
date	10/05/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the debate entitled For an assessment of the means and provisions to combat children's exposure to pornographic content, which took place at the Council of Europe on 25 April 2022.
tabling member constituency	Henley
tabling member printed	John Howell
uin	148
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2022 answer text <p>The Government shares the concerns raised by the Council of Europe about the impact of children’s exposure to pornography online.</p><p>The Online Safety Bill provides protection for children from online pornography. Services in scope of the Bill that host or publish pornography, including pornography sites, social media, video sharing platforms and forums will be required to protect children from this content.</p><p>The Government continues to engage with international partners, including through multilateral organisations such as the Council of Europe, to lead global discussions and build consensus around our approaches to tackling online harms.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 16/05/2022 08:34:29 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	1606 label Biography information for John Howell

1441638

registered interest
date	15/03/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how the proposed Online Safety Bill will address the availability of (1) violent, or (2) abusive, pornography online.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL6992
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2022 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17 March. The Bill will require user-to-user and search services to tackle illegal content on their sites.</p><p>Revenge and extreme pornography will be listed as priority illegal offences in the Online Safety Bill. This means that companies will need to have proportionate systems and processes in place to seek out and remove this type of content or face regulatory enforcement action.</p><p>Providers of services which are likely to be accessed by children will also have additional duties to protect children from harmful and age-inappropriate content such as pornography, even if it is not illegal. There will also be specific duties on providers which publish pornographic content on their services to prevent children from accessing that content.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay question first answered 28/03/2022 15:20:07 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1441639

registered interest
date	15/03/2022
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of UK children who have accessed online pornography since their decision not to bring Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 into force in October 2019.
tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
uin	HL6993
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2022 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill will go further than the Digital Economy Act 2017, protecting children from a broader range of harmful content on a wider range of services. The Digital Economy Act was criticised for not covering social media companies, through which a considerable quantity of pornographic material is accessible, and which research suggests children use to access pornography. The online safety framework will cover all online sites that offer pornography, including commercial pornography sites, social media, video-sharing platforms, fora and search engines.</p><p>HM Government has commissioned research to build the evidence base on harms to children online. This will review the prevalence and impact of a wide range of harmful content online, including pornography, to ensure that the Online Safety Bill provides comprehensive protections for children.</p> answering member printed Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay question first answered 28/03/2022 15:16:03 answering member 4728 label Biography information for Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick