Key Facts

• New clause 36 seeks to criminalise the encouragement or assistance of a suicide online.
• Samaritans supporter shared an experience where extensive online research played a significant role in multiple suicide attempts and eventual death.
• Between 2011 and 2015, 151 patients who died by suicide were known to have visited websites that encouraged suicide or shared information about methods of harm; 82% of these patients were aged over 25.
• The Bill does not mandate risk assessments based exclusively on risk, potentially allowing harmful content to slip through.
• In July 2021, the Law Commission for England and Wales recommended creating a new offence of 'encouragement or assistance' of serious self-harm with malicious intent.
• Currently, there are no provisions in the Bill to create an offence of assisting or encouraging self-harm.
• John Nicolson withdraws his amendment.
• The Minister agrees with the sentiment behind creating a new offence for encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.
• The proposed offence is under final consideration by the Law Commission and Ministry of Justice.
• Amendment 116 adds an offence under section 13 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1966.
• The amendment aims to capture all criminal offences in other parts of the UK, ensuring uniform application across service providers regardless of location.
• Any new Scottish or Northern Irish offences will be added to Schedule 7 by regulations following consultation with devolved authorities.
• Amendment 90 would insert an offence under section 2 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 into Schedule 7.
• The amendment seeks to classify human trafficking as a priority illegal content on digital platforms.
• The BBC and The Wall Street Journal have uncovered how traffickers use Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp to advertise, sell, and co-ordinate the trafficking of young women.
• Meta—Facebook—only took 'limited action' until Apple Inc. threatened to remove Facebook’s products from the App Store unless it cracked down on human trafficking.
• Facebook does not have moderators who speak different languages for content moderation.
• Online grooming of young girls has increased by 60% in the last three years, with four in five victims being girls.
• A survey found that 91% of children say loot boxes are available in games they play and 40% have paid to open them.
• Research shows regular exposure to conventionally perfect body images can be damaging to children's mental health.
• Subsection (4)(c) includes harmful content affecting an appreciable number of children.
• Subsection (5) excludes illegal and potentially financially impactful content.
• Concerns are raised about future-proofing clause 53 against new emerging harms.
• Epilepsy trolling is covered by clause 150 because it causes psychological harm.
• Clause 187 defines harm as physical or psychological and includes indirect actions leading to harm.
• Media literacy duties are already covered under the Communications Act 2003.
• Ofcom updated its policy in December beyond initial Bill provisions.
• Primary priority content and harmful priority content can be updated via statutory instruments.
• Clause 53 excludes illegal content and certain financial offences like gambling regulated by the Gambling Commission.
• Loot boxes will be addressed through online advertising legislation overseen by Julia Lopez.
• Amendment 83 seeks to insert a new clause into the Online Safety Bill regarding priority content harmful to adults.
• Health-related misinformation and disinformation are not currently certain to be included as priority content under the existing framework.
• In October 2021, one in five of the most critically ill covid patients were unvaccinated pregnant women due to mixed messages about vaccine safety.
• Labour is concerned about the overall aim of defining harm under the Government’s approach.
• Health misinformation and disinformation are missing from the Online Safety Bill.
• Estimates suggest that during the pandemic, the number of anti-vaccination social media accounts increased by 25% since 2019.
• An Ofcom survey found that 28% of respondents had come across false or misleading information about covid-19.
• Data from OpenSAFELY platform shows vaccine uptake disparities among ethnic groups in the UK.
• Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have implemented measures to address vaccine misinformation.
• Over the past two years, DCMS has worked with other Departments to develop an operational response to disinformation.
• A counter-disinformation unit within DCMS identifies and works with social media firms to remove misinformation.
• The unit's focus during the pandemic was on covid, but it has since shifted to address the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• Ministers have engaged directly with social media companies regarding flagrant Russian disinformation.
• John Nicolson finds himself not entirely reassured about the provisions of the Bill.
• Amendment is pressed to a vote but negatived (Ayes 5, Noes 8).
• Alex Davies-Jones moves amendment 62 requiring consultation with stakeholders before making regulations under clauses 53 or 54.
• Amendment 62 requires the Secretary of State to consult other stakeholders before making regulations.
• Clause 56 will force Ofcom to carry out reviews every three years assessing harmful content on user-to-user services.
• The Minister confirms that research and consultation with stakeholders are already ongoing, but opposes formalizing it in law due to potential delays.
• The Labour party welcomes the addition of user verification duties in the revised Bill.
• Clean Up the Internet has campaigned for a verification requirement process.
• Research shows more than one in four people are put off posting on social media due to fear of abuse from anonymous posters.
• Clause 59 requires regulated services to report all detected CSEA content.
• BT is planning to use the Internet Watch Foundation’s hash list for proactive detection of CSEA.
• Hashing technology matches unique strings of letters and numbers applied to images, preventing access to known illegal images.
• The Bill includes duties for companies to proactively prevent and detect CSEA.
• Clause 103 gives Ofcom the power to mandate the use of certain technologies in fighting CSEA and terrorism.
• Clause 59 requires companies to report identified harmful content to the National Crime Agency.
• Amendments 1 to 5 relate to sentencing penalties for either-way offences in England and Wales.
• The amendments bring the Bill into line with changes implemented by the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022.
• The term 'general limit in a magistrates’ court' is used to account for future regulatory changes.
• Amendment 54 seeks to change the frequency of transparency reports from annual to biannual.
• Clause 64(3) states that companies must publish transparency reports as specified in the notice issued by Ofcom.
• The amendment aims to ensure platforms stay responsive to emergent risks and promote a culture focused on safety.
• Amendment 55 would require Ofcom to request transparency reports from large companies.
• Meta regulates only 70 languages out of the over 3 billion people using Facebook monthly worldwide.
• Frances Haugen testified that platforms can easily report additional data on language safety systems with a single line of code change.
• Clause 64 requires social media platforms to publish transparency reports annually.
• Amendment 54 proposes increasing reporting frequency to twice a year.
• Amendment 55 seeks to specify additional topics for the transparency reports.
• Schedule 8 grants Ofcom powers to enforce and monitor compliance with the Bill's requirements.
• Amendment 114 aims to impose duties on verifying age and consent for regulated provider pornographic content.
• It requires verification of individuals' adulthood and consent before publication.
• The amendment also mandates removal of content if consent is later withdrawn.
• Amendments tabled by Diana Johnson aim to address age verification and consent.
• Pornhub faced lawsuits from victims whose abuse was posted on the site.
• Leigh Nicol's personal experience of image-based sexual abuse is highlighted.
• Support for including women and girls in the Online Safety Bill.
• The Protection of Children Act 1978, Criminal Justice Act 1988 and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 criminalise child pornography.
• Clause 68 imposes a legal duty on platforms to use age verification measures to prevent children from accessing pornographic content.
• The Law Commission is working on proposed offences for intimate image abuse without consent.
• OSB69 Full Fact (supplementary submission).
• Care Quality Commission (CQC).
• Oxford University's Child-Centred AI initiative, Department of Computer Science.
• British Retail Consortium (BRC).
• Claudine Tinsman, doctoral candidate in Cyber Security at the University of Oxford.
• British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
• Advertising Standards Authority.
• YoungMinds.