Second Report - Tackling online abuse

The government stated the Online Safety Bill will require large service providers to publish annual transparency reports on online harms, and Ofcom will produce its own report, gather data, and conduct risk assessments and reviews to understand prevalence.

The government agrees to list hate crime and Violence Against Women and Girls offences as priority illegal content in the Online Safety Bill, detailing specific included offences, and announced this change on February 5th.

The government has accepted the recommendation, stating they have amended the risk assessment provisions in the Online Safety Bill to require companies to specifically consider risks to individuals with certain characteristics or group memberships.

The government states the Online Safety Bill is designed to bring high-risk services into scope, and the child user condition ensures protections for children on any in-scope services they are likely to access. They assert this approach is targeted and proportionate, with enforceable requirements for services to assess and review child access.

The government agrees with the recommendation, stating the Online Safety Bill already requires in-scope service providers to identify, mitigate, and manage risks associated with online anonymity. As part of risk assessments, all services must evaluate the role of anonymous profiles in spreading harmful content and implement appropriate protections.

The government agrees with the recommendation, stating the Online Safety Bill already requires service providers to identify, mitigate, and manage risks associated with online anonymity, implementing appropriate protections as part of their risk assessments.

The government welcomes and agrees with the recommendation, detailing new user verification and empowerment duties in the Bill that will allow adult users to verify their identity and control interactions with unverified users.

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.

The government highlights its existing Online Media Literacy Strategy and Action Plan, which includes funding organisations, supporting teachers, and establishing a taskforce to empower users with the skills and knowledge for safe online choices.

The government maintains that the Online Safety Bill's child user condition already addresses the committee's concern about smaller platforms, as it applies to any service likely to attract a significant number of child users regardless of platform size.