Source · Select Committees · Petitions Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Accepted
We recommend that the Government set an expectation that the largest social media platforms should...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government set an expectation that the largest social media platforms should offer users the option to filter content by user verification status and block content from users who have chosen not to verify their account. User verification should not necessarily have to be in the form of an ID document, and Tackling Online Abuse 51 we recommend that Ofcom should conduct research to establish possible methods of account verification that offer a robust way to reduce users’ exposure to harmful content while also being maximally inclusive and accessible. (Paragraph 109) Social responses to online abuse
Government Response Summary
The government welcomes and agrees with the recommendation, stating new user verification and empowerment duties in the Bill will require Category 1 services to offer identity verification and tools for users to control interactions with unverified accounts, with Ofcom guiding on verification methods.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Government response The government welcomes this recommendation and agrees that it is important that users are given the choice over who they interact with. The government has included new duties in the Bill on Category 1 service providers to give adult users more control over their online experience. The new user verification duty will ensure that Category 1 service providers provide all adult users with the option to verify their identity, should they wish to do so. The recommended forms of identification by which users can verify their identity will be set out through guidance issued by Ofcom. As part of preparing the guidance Ofcom must ensure that the recommended verification measures are accessible to vulnerable users. In preparing the guidance Ofcom must also consult the Information Commissioner, persons with technical expertise, persons representing vulnerable adult users and anyone else they consider appropriate. Alongside the user verification duty sits the new user empowerment duty. The user empowerment duty will ensure that Category 1 service providers provide adult users with the tools to control whether they encounter or interact with unverified users. This includes preventing unverified users from seeing their content or seeing content from an unverified user. In addition, Category 1 service providers, for harmful content that Category 1 services do tolerate, will have to provide users with the tools to control what types of legal but harmful content they see. This could include, for example, content on the discussion of self-harm recovery which may be tolerated on a category one service but which a particular user may not want to see. These two new duties, in combination, will help provide robust protections for adults, including vulnerable users. They will ensure that UK users have more control over who they interact with and what content they see.