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1666496

registered interest
date	23/10/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Internet: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of age verification and estimation technology for meeting requirements in the Online Safety Bill.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	203841
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2023 answer text <p>Age verification technologies are well developed and already in use across a range of sectors, including financial services and the online sales of age restricted goods. Age estimation technologies are developing rapidly and there are a growing number of privacy-preserving tools being developed that will ensure that platforms know the age of their users and can provide a safe and age-appropriate experience for children.</p><p>Ofcom will set out in its guidance examples of the kinds of age verification and age estimation measures that can be used to meet the duties set out in the Bill – this includes setting out the kinds of technologies that are highly effective in determining whether a particular user is a child for the purpose of protecting children from pornography and other primary priority content that is harmful to children.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 25/10/2023 16:04:47 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1662745

registered interest
date	13/10/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Social Media: Artificial Intelligence
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of AI social media usage on people under the age of 18.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	200599
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill has now finished its parliamentary passage and will receive Royal Assent in the coming weeks.</p><p> </p><p>The Bill will ensure that technology companies take more responsibility for the safety of their users, particularly children. It has been designed to be tech-neutral to keep pace with emerging technology. The Bill will tackle harmful AI generated content on user-to-user services when that content is placed on the service by a user, or if an AI bot is itself placed on a service by a user and interacts with other users.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the forthcoming AI Safety Summit and the work of the Foundation Model Taskforce will focus on risks created or significantly exacerbated by the most powerful AI systems, especially where they pose a threat to the most vulnerable in our society, such as children. It will draw on a range of perspectives both prior to and at the event itself to inform these discussions.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 23/10/2023 15:18:39 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1649899

registered interest
date	04/07/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Semiconductors: Manufacturing Industries
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with representatives of Intel on (a) establishing a semiconductor factory in the UK and (b) investment in the UK semiconductor industry.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	192310
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/07/2023 answer text <p>The National Semiconductor Strategy, published on 19 May, sets out the government’s approach to growing our domestic semiconductor sector, safeguarding the UK against supply chain disruption and protecting our national security.</p><p>Developed in collaboration with industry and academia, this Strategy articulates an ambitious vision that over the next 20 years, the UK will secure areas of world leading strength in the technologies of the future by focusing on our strengths in R&amp;D, design and compound semiconductors. The Government is engaging widely with industry, including Intel, on taking forward the ambitious set out in the Strategy.</p><p>Our strategy is rightly differentiated to those other countries are pursuing. While others are investing in large-scale silicon manufacturing, reflecting their strengths, we will double down on our own complementary strengths in R&amp;D, design and compound.</p><p>Intel are one of the most significant companies in the global semiconductor industry, their UK activity is largely focused on R&amp;D, which is in line with the UK government’s focus for growing the domestic sector outlined in the strategy. They have also recently launched a UK branch of their startup accelerator programme, Intel Ignite, in recognition of the UK’s thriving tech startup ecosystem.</p><p>Industry partners have told us that difficulty accessing the software tools and manufacturing equipment to design, prototype, pilot and produce innovations is a major barrier to the sector’s growth. As set out in the Strategy, we will announce plans by the autumn to further support the competitiveness of the semiconductor manufacturing sector that is critical to the UK tech ecosystem or our national security.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 12/07/2023 15:48:32 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1645871

registered interest
date	20/06/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Tiktok: Children
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives from Tiktok on enforcing age restrictions on its platform for children under the age of 13.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	190309
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/06/2023 answer text <p>Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with social media platforms, such as TikTok, to discuss a range of issues relating to online safety. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.</p><p>Under the Online Safety Bill, services which are likely to be accessed by children, such as TikTok, will be required to provide safety measures for children to protect them from inappropriate and harmful content or activity. Providers which have age restrictions will be required to specify in their terms of service what measures they use to prevent underage access and apply these terms consistently. This will mean providers can be held to account for what they say in their terms of service, and can no longer do nothing to prevent underage access.</p><p>Ahead of the Bill, video-sharing platform (VSP) providers currently regulated by the VSP regime, including Tiktok, are required to take ‘appropriate measures’ to protect under-18s from potentially harmful material. Appropriate measures could include, but are not limited to, age assurance, parental controls, and comprehensive terms and conditions.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 28/06/2023 15:12:13 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1643579

registered interest
date	12/06/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Pornography: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential effectiveness of the Online Safety Bill in tackling online access to pornography by children.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	188881
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/06/2023 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill will ensure that companies protect children from online pornography, wherever it appears online. It will cover all online sites that offer pornography, including commercial pornography sites, social media platforms, video sharing platforms, forums and search engines. These companies will have to prevent children from accessing pornography, using measures such as age verification, or Ofcom will be able to bring enforcement action against them.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 20/06/2023 09:22:45 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1599269

registered interest
date	27/02/2023
answering body	Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept id	216
answering dept short name	Science, Innovation and Technology
answering dept sort name	Science, Innovation and Technology
hansard heading	Broadband: Rural Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure full and equal access to superfast broadband, particularly in rural areas.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	153755
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. Across the UK, 97.5% of premises can access a superfast connection (&gt;=30Mbps).</p><p>We have introduced measures in the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 to specifically assist suppliers providing broadband services, such as an increased ability to upgrade and share the existing duct and pole network, and procedures to deal with non-responsive landowners. This follows the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act 2021, which makes it easier for broadband operators to install in multiple dwelling units where the landlord is repeatedly unresponsive to requests for access.</p><p>To support those on low-incomes to stay connected, the Government has worked closely with suppliers to ensure the provision of low-cost, high-quality fixed social tariffs in the market. These offers are available in 99% of the UK, and many provide superfast connections. Social tariffs are available to those claiming Universal Credit and other means-tested benefits, starting from £12pm.</p><p>We are also investing £5 billion as part of Project Gigabit to deliver gigabit-capable (1000Mbps) broadband to hard-to-reach areas of the UK. Gigabit-capable coverage currently stands at 74.2% and over £1 billion of public subsidy has already been made available to broadband suppliers to extend gigabit-capable broadband further, to some of the hardest to reach parts of the country.</p><p>Support is also available for homes and businesses in rural areas through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The voucher scheme provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband via local community broadband projects.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 06/03/2023 17:47:11 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1551496

registered interest
date	14/12/2022
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	Social Media: Regulation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to increase regulation of social media companies in order to manage security threats to users.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	110701
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2022 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill will impose duties on companies that enable the sharing of user-generated content, including social media companies, to tackle illegal content on their services. Social media companies will need to understand the risk of illegal content appearing on their services, and take steps to prevent users from encountering such content. This will include illegal content that poses a security threat to users, for example terrorist content. The Bill is currently progressing through Parliament.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 20/12/2022 16:07:47 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1551501

registered interest
date	14/12/2022
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	Online Safety Bill
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Online Safety Bill on the availability of online content that is harmful to children.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	110704
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2022 answer text <p>The Online Safety Bill will deliver world-leading protections for children from harmful content and activity online. All companies that are in scope will need to take robust steps to protect children from illegal content and activity, such as content assisting suicide, on their services.</p><p>In addition, companies that have services which are likely to be accessed by children will be required to protect children from being exposed to harmful content or activity including bullying and pornography. This includes ensuring that systems for targeting content to children, such as the use of algorithms, and other features and functionalities on the service such as live streaming and private messaging, protect children from harmful material. For services that pose a very high risk to the safety of children, such as pornography, we would expect companies to use a high confidence age assurance technology, such as age verification, designed to prevent children from accessing the service.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 20/12/2022 10:45:39 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1551502

registered interest
date	14/12/2022
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	Online Safety Bill
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 discussions she has had with the Leader of the House on the planned timetable for the remaining stages of the Online Safety Bill.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	110705
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/01/2023 answer text <p>Following its second day of Report on 5 December 2022, the Online Safety Bill completed its second House of Commons Committee Stage on 15 December.</p><p>The Bill remains a priority and the government is committed to ensuring it passes as swiftly as possible. Parliamentary scheduling remains a matter for the Business Managers.</p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully question first answered 03/01/2023 11:43:50 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1544358

registered interest
date	22/11/2022
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	Internet: Children
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 steps she is taking to protect children online.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	93538
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2022 answer text <p>Protecting children online is a priority for the government. The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children.</p><p>All companies in scope will need to take robust steps to protect children from illegal content and activity on their services. This includes proactively identifying and minimising the uploading and sharing of priority illegal content such as child sexual exploitation and abuse. Companies will also need to have effective systems and processes to quickly take down other illegal content or behaviour once it has been reported or they become aware of its presence.</p><p>Companies in scope will also need to assess whether their service is likely to be accessed by children and if so, deliver additional protections for children from harmful content or activity. If they fail to do so, they will be subject to tough enforcement action by Ofcom, the regulator.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sutton and Cheam answering member printed Paul Scully grouped question UIN 94913 question first answered 29/11/2022 09:26:38 answering member 4414 label Biography information for Paul Scully
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon