The government is committed to ensuring children are protected from accessing inappropriate content online. As we announced on 16 October last year, the government has decided that the policy objective of protecting children online from age inappropriate content can be best delivered through our wider online harms proposals. Our Online Harms proposals will deliver a higher level of protection for children and we expect companies to use a proportionate range of tools, including age assurance and age verification technologies, to prevent children accessing age-inappropriate content such as online pornography. This approach will achieve a more consistent and comprehensive approach to harmful content across different sites and go further than the Digital Economy Act\u2019s focus on online pornography on commercial adult sites.<\/p>
<\/strong><\/p> We will publish a Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation later this year. We will follow the full Government Response with legislation, which we are working on at pace, and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> The British Board of Film Classification, while designated as the age verification regulator under the Digital Economy Act, commissioned research on children\u2019s access to pornographic content online. The research, published in early 2020, explored young people\u2019s interactions with, and attitudes towards, online pornography and age verification. We will continue to develop our evidence base on online harms ahead of the implementation of the new online harms regulatory framework.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> As a result of Covid-19 lockdown measures we expect more people, including children, to be spending more time online. Although it is too early to confidently analyse patterns from this period, there is universal concern about child online safety. We are working closely with technology companies, law enforcement and civil society to monitor trends, and to support users to understand and manage the risks and benefits of being online during this period.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, including children\u2019s charities, on a variety of issues. We engaged with a number of children\u2019s charities on our proposals to protect children through the new online harms regulatory framework, as part of our wider public consultation on the Online Harms White Paper last year. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk<\/a> website.<\/p> <\/strong><\/p> <\/p> <\/p>"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government made of the (a) potential number of additional viewing incidences by children in of online pornography and (b) effect on child wellbeing of such viewing in its decision to delay the requirement for statutory age verification checks by bringing forward new legislative proposals rather than implementing Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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