Key Facts

• The amendments allow Ofcom to impose a penalty for failure to comply with confirmation decisions under clause 118.
• Clause 119 enables Ofcom to impose penalties if recipients do not comply with section 103 notices by the deadline.
• Government amendments 154 to 157 provide £88 million in funding and allow recovery of preparatory costs up to an estimated £20 million.
• Amendments 154, 155, 156, 157 ensure Ofcom can impose penalties on providers who fail to pay required fees.
• Amendment 158 removes paragraph 8 of Schedule 12 requiring monetary penalties to be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
• Amendments 50 and 51 give Ofcom the ability to take action against multiple non-compliant sites with a single application.
• Labour supports clauses 123-127 which outline Ofcom's enforcement powers.
• Amendments 50 and 51 would allow Ofcom to take action against a schedule of non-compliant sites at once.
• The current Bill requires separate court orders for each service, creating a disadvantage for UK-based services compared to overseas ones.
• Amendments 50 and 51 aim to streamline application processes and enable bulk applications.
• Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) already allow multi-party claims and bulk applications.
• Business disruption measures like access restriction orders are intended as last resorts.
• Government amendment 7 requires Ofcom to consult the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) when producing guidance about enforcement actions.
• Clause 129 mandates transparency in how Ofcom will use its enforcement powers.
• The clause includes a consultation requirement with the Secretary of State, but it is not binding on Ofcom.
• Amendment 57 changes the advisory committee's report period from 18 months to 6 months.
• Amendment 58 mandates OFCOM to create a code of practice on system-level disinformation.
• The Bill currently lacks provisions addressing harmful misinformation and disinformation effectively.
• Non-legislatively, a counter-disinformation unit monitors social media for disinformation and works with firms to remove it.
• Clause 13 of the National Security Bill creates a new foreign interference offence targeting state-backed organisations spreading disinformation.
• The government proposes adding this offence as a priority under schedule 7 once the National Security Bill receives Royal Assent.
• Three in four adults do not think about whether online information is truthful.
• One in three adults believes that all or most online information they find is truthful.
• There is a significant gap between consumer perception and reality of online information.
• Ofcom has a statutory duty under section 15 of the Communications Act 2003 to publish reports.
• Clause 64 of the Bill compels social media firms to make disclosures to Ofcom and mandates publication of transparency reports.
• Article 8 of the ECHR enshrines the right to family life, while article 10 protects free speech.
• Labour welcomes clause 135 which compels Ofcom to produce reports based on provider transparency.
• Clause 136 requires Ofcom to publish a report about the access independent researchers have to online safety data.
• The Minister understands the need for academic research but no specific timeline or action is outlined.
• Clause 138 allows companies to appeal Ofcom's categorisation decisions.
• Clause 139 permits appeals against Ofcom notices related to terrorism and child sexual abuse material.
• Appeals are directed to the upper tribunal rather than the first-tier tribunal.
• Amendments 143 to 152 aim to include 'consumers' in the eligibility criteria for making super-complaints.
• The amendments are proposed to reflect the expansion of the Bill to include fraud facilitated through social media platforms and search engines.
• Online fraud has significantly increased during the pandemic, often resulting in victims losing significant amounts of money.
• Amendment 77 aims to remove clause 140, subsection (2).
• Facebook has over 57 million UK users.
• Twitter is used by 19 million people in the UK.
• TikTok has about 13 million UK users.
• Clause 140 introduces the super-complaint mechanism for reporting widespread concerns about harmful services.
• Subsection (2) requires complaints to prove particular importance or impact on a large number of users.
• Freedom of expression is supported under clause 140(1)(b).
• Category 1 companies are defined by reaching large numbers of people, meeting the 'particularly large number' criterion.
• The Committee divided: Ayes 5, Noes 9.
• Further consideration was ordered to be adjourned until the same day at Two o'clock.