Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Rejected
Explore funding options for the Online Safety Commission, including a levy on relevant bodies.
Recommendation
The Government should explore whether the funding for such a Commission could be generated, at least in part, by a levy on bodies within scope of the OSA on a similar basis to that which exists in other regulated environments. We note that such consideration would need to take into account fees already collected by Ofcom. (Recommendation, Paragraph 78)
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation, stating that the Online Safety Act already contains strong provisions for user redress and reporting illegal content, with Ofcom providing guidance and iteratively developing codes of practice. It highlights the role of trusted flaggers and existing support services.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
Reject The Online Safety Act contains strong provisions for user redress designed to support individuals, including those who are victims of NCII abuse. It requires all user-to-user and search services regulated by the Act to enable users and affected persons, such as a victim of NCII, to report illegal content, including illegally shared or reshared NCII content and to complain to the service provider if they consider that a provider is not complying with any of their relevant duties, which include putting in place systems and processes designed to remove illegal content, including NCII. The Act specifies that this complaints system must be accessible, easy to use and transparent with appropriate action taken. Ofcom has made it clear in its codes of practice for illegal content duties that, where a provider receives a report from a user (victim) stating that an item of content is a NCII, a provider following one of these Codes should consider that this is sufficient evidence that the content is indeed NCII and should then take it down. These illegal content duties have been in force since 17 March. The Government believes that the duties requiring providers of regulated services to take steps to take down NCII, combined with mandating that victims are provided with a direct user redress mechanism, is an effective way to ensure illegal NCII content is removed. As a result, the Government does not believe it is necessary to implement this recommendation. Trusted flaggers Under the Online Safety Act regime, Ofcom can recommend that services should set up dedicated reporting routes for certain organisations as ‘trusted flaggers’, in order to comply with their safety duties. For example, Ofcom’s current codes of practice set out that services with a significant risk of fraud should establish and maintain a dedicated reporting channel for specified recommended trusted flaggers. These include the police, the National Cyber Security Centre, the Financial Conduct Authority and others. Beyond fraud, there are organisations that offer support services for UK users who have been victimised by intimate image abuse and by other kinds of crimes that can be facilitated through online content. There is scope under the Act for Ofcom to set out that relevant services should designate these organisations as trusted flaggers for intimate image abuse, and other kinds of in-scope harms, where they have evidence that this is a proportionate measure to tackle harm. Ofcom’s current codes of practice are the first versions. Ofcom has said it intends to develop the codes iteratively. Ofcom has stated that trusted flaggers can play a valuable role in improving detection of illegal content and that they could be used to address a wide range of harms.