Select committee: Petitions Committee
Conclusion 24
Second Report - Tackling online abuse
Published 1 Feb 2022
Paragraph 97
Petitions Committee Tackling Online Abuse All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Social media platforms told us they already have rules against previously banned users returning, as well as the tools and data needed to identify users and prevent them starting new accounts. However, the evidence we heard suggests this is not a priority for them, and that some users are taking advantage of poor enforcement of such bans to continue to behave abusively. This is a significant failing by these platforms.
From: Petitions Committee, Second Report - Tackling online abuse (HC 766), paragraph 97, 1 February 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 28 March 2022 (deadline 1 April 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and agrees with a number of its recommendations, while taking a different approach to others, including a statutory consultation duty, legal but harmful content on smaller platforms and a single foundational duty.
- On Recommendation 4, it agrees that hate crime and Violence against Women and Girls offences should be listed as priority illegal offences on the face of the Bill, a change announced on 5 February.
- On Recommendation 3, it does not think a statutory duty to consult civil society organisations is "necessary", citing the existing consultation provisions in the draft Bill.
- On Recommendation 7, it does not think it "appropriate" to require platforms to remove or interfere with legal content, so the duties on legal but harmful content apply to Category 1 services.
- On Recommendations 10 and 11, it is "carefully considering" the Law Commission's hate crime report and will "shortly publish" a new hate crime strategy, without stating a date.