Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 74
On 15 December 2020 the Government announced its decision to bring forward legislation for the...
Recommendation
On 15 December 2020 the Government announced its decision to bring forward legislation for the Online Safety Bill but also signalled its intent to exclude financial harms from the scope of that legislation. It is notable that several public bodies, including the Financial Conduct Authority and National Economic Crime Centre, are openly saying that there is a better approach for the Government to take than the one it has chosen. We recommend that the forthcoming Online Safety Bill should legislate against online investment fraud.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government response provides details on the scope and services of Pension Wise and the Money and Pensions Service, noting their rebranding, but does not address the recommendation for the Online Safety Bill to legislate against online investment fraud.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
74
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
The Government has also announced that aspects of online fraud will be included in scope of the Online Safety Bill. This means that companies in scope of regulation will need to take action to tackle fraud, where it is facilitated through user-generated content. It will increase people’s protection from the devastating impact of illegal activity like romance scams and fraudulent social media posts about investment opportunities. The Bill will be subject to pre- legislative scrutiny in this session. The Bill will not tackle fraud facilitated through paid-for advertising, such as adverts on search engines. DCMS is considering how online advertising is regulated through its Online Advertising Programme. This work will look at ensuring that standards about the placement and content of advertising are effectively applied and enforced online to reduce consumers’ exposure to harmful or misleading advertising. This work will look at the role advertising can play in enabling online fraud and help inform our future efforts to tackle it. DCMS will be consulting on this issue later this year.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗