Source · Select Committees · Petitions Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Rejected
Paragraph: 38
It is appropriate for legal but harmful content to be included in the scope of...
Recommendation
It is appropriate for legal but harmful content to be included in the scope of the Online Safety Bill. The balance of evidence we heard suggests that it is necessary to address this content in the Bill to help protect people from online abuse and promote free speech among groups currently unable to fully express themselves online. However, the lack of clarity in the draft version of the Bill on what content will be covered under this definition is unhelpful. Providing greater clarity on the scope and scale of content the Government expects this definition to capture, and reducing reliance on Ministerial powers to designate such content via secondary legislation at a later date, would be more consistent with respect for freedom of expression. We recommend that the Online Safety Bill should include as comprehensive an indication as possible of what content will be covered under its provisions on content that is harmful to adults or to children in the primary legislation.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government rejects including a comprehensive indication of harmful content in primary legislation, stating they will use secondary legislation to designate priority harmful content after consulting with Ofcom. This approach aims to balance certainty for businesses with the flexibility to adapt to emerging harms.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
38
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government · verbatim extract
Rejected
We agree that it is important to be clear and comprehensive about what types of content are harmful to children and to adults, but are taking a different approach to that suggested by the Committee. It is essential that the regulatory framework is evidence-based, flexible and future-proofed. The Online Safety Bill will create a framework under which the government will consult with Ofcom before designating categories of priority harmful content in secondary legislation. Service providers will have duties to protect children and adults from this designated priority content. As well as creating the legislative framework for designating priority harms, the Bill will include clear definitions of non-designated content that is harmful to children and will set out the priority content that is harmful to adults. Service providers will have additional duties to protect children from this non-designated harmful content, and must report to Ofcom on any non-designated content harmful to adults that they become aware of. Designating priority harms in secondary legislation will mean that they can be kept under review and updated to reflect emerging harms without requiring any changes to primary legislation. This will also allow for parliamentary oversight and democratic debate about the harms to be included in the list. This approach balances the need to give certainty to businesses on the harms they must address, whilst ensuring the legislation remains agile and flexible to emerging harms.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗