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Online Safety: Children and Young People — [Peter Dowd in the Chair]

26 November 2024

Lead MP

Lola McEvoy
Darlington
Lab

Responding Minister

Feryal Clark

Tags

NHSDefenceEconomy
Word Count: 13630
Other Contributors: 18

At a Glance

Lola McEvoy raised concerns about online safety: children and young people — [peter dowd in the chair] in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key Requests to Government:

I urge the Government to strengthen the children's codes of practice under the Online Safety Act 2023 and consider proactive measures to make apps safe for all children instead of reactive safety measures. The current age verification requirements are not fit for purpose, and there is a need for stronger age verification models or adult-only platforms that require strong authentication.

How the Debate Unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:

Lead Contributor

Darlington
Opened the debate
I am concerned about the widespread online bullying, unsolicited receipt of disturbing images from algorithms, and exposure to harmful content that negatively impacts children's mental health. Parents across Darlington have agreed on the need for action. Children in my constituency reported seeing violent or explicit images unprompted, being blackmailed, and witnessing in-person bullying facilitated by app features like live location tracking.

Government Response

Feryal Clark
Government Response
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy) on securing this debate. As hon. Members can see, debates in Westminster Hall take a whole different form from debates in the House; they are a lot more informative and collegiate, and Westminster Hall is a much nicer place to debate. I welcome the parents in the Public Gallery and thank them for their commitment and the work they continue to do to make sure that this issue stays on our agenda and continues to be debated. I know they have met my colleagues, and I look forward to meeting them as well. I am grateful to all hon. Members for the incredibly powerful and informative contributions to today's debate. The Government are committed to keeping children safe online, and it is crucial that we continue to have conversations about how best to achieve that goal. We live in a digital age, and we know that being online can benefit children of all ages, giving them access to better connections, education, information and entertainment. However, we know that it can also accentuate vulnerabilities and expose children to harmful and age-inappropriate content. Last week, the Secretary of State visited NSPCC headquarters to speak to their voice of online youth group. That is just the latest meeting in a programme of engagement undertaken by the Secretary of State and my colleague in the other place, Baroness Maggie Jones. Getting this right has been and will continue to be a long process. Many hon. Members here will remember the battle to get the Online Safety Act passed. Under the Act, user-to-user and search services will need to assess the risk that they might facilitate illegal content and must put in place measures to manage and mitigate any such risk. In addition, in-scope services likely to be accessed by children will need to protect children from content that is legal but none the less harmful to children, including pornography, bullying and violent content. Ofcom will be able to use robust enforcement powers against companies that fail to fulfil their duties. Ofcom's draft codes set out what steps services can take to meet those duties. The proposals mean that user-to-user services that do not ban harmful content should introduce highly effective age checks to prevent children from accessing the entire site or app, or age-restrict those parts of the service that host harmful content. My hon. Friends the Members for Slough (Mr Dhesi) and for Lowestoft (Jess Asato) and the hon. Member for Aberdeen North raised the issue of violence against girls and women. In line with our safer streets mission, platforms will have new duties to create safer spaces for women and girls. It is a priority of the Online Safety Act for platforms proactively to tackle the most harmful illegal content. I am running short of time, so I shall make some final remarks. While we remain resolute in our commitment to implementing the Online Safety Act as quickly and effectively as possible, we recognise the importance of these ongoing conversations, and I am grateful to everyone who has contributed to today's debate.
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About Westminster Hall Debates

Westminster Hall debates are a chance for MPs to raise important issues affecting their constituents and get a response from a government minister. Unlike Prime Minister's Questions, these debates are more in-depth and collaborative. The MP who secured the debate speaks first, other MPs can contribute, and a minister responds with the government's position.