Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 28
28
Accepted
Collaboration and trusted flaggers are crucial for tackling online harms and fraudulent advertising.
Conclusion
Both the Department and Ofcom see collaboration, both nationally and internationally, as crucial to achieving change on behalf of the British public in line with the Act. Working in partnership with other regulators will help them be alert to the next set of issues arising and how they might be addressed.65 For example, the Global Online Safety Regulators Network, which Ofcom helped launch in November 2022, has enabled Ofcom to get to grips with the emerging harm of sextortion (sex-based blackmail) and talk to law enforcement agencies about this more quickly than it would otherwise have done.66 The Act also requires Ofcom power to tackle fraudulent advertising. Ofcom told us that it is recommending that larger platforms should use trusted flaggers, organisations like HMRC, the Financial Conduct Authority, and other civil society organisations that are well-placed to know that something is fraudulent. It is also recommending that the services have in place a tougher flagger system so that they can act more quickly against criminals who use whichever loophole has opened up.67
Government Response Summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, highlighting the department's evaluation framework and plans, Ofcom's metric design, and ongoing national and international collaboration efforts, including an MOU with Australia and a statutory instrument to enhance information sharing with overseas regulators.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 The department and Ofcom recognise the value of evaluation and international collaboration, and have comprehensive and timely plans for this, and continually look for opportunities to gain further insight. 6.3 Identifying specific and realistic objectives and tracking progress against them will be a key focus in the early years of the regime for both Ofcom and the department. Both parties will share information where possible and will formalise engagement by establishing an Evaluation Steering Group. 6.4 The department has a plan to monitor and evaluate the Act’s implementation through capturing baseline and ongoing evidence. This was informed by extensive planning in 2023 including developing a specific evaluation framework. 6.5 Ofcom is designing a full suite of metrics to track whether safety outcomes are changing as intended. Ofcom is engaging with regulated services, third-party organisations, users, and academics to collate metrics where available before Codes of Practice come into force, and to enable better measurement as the regime evolves. 6.6 The department routinely engages with international partners to discuss and promote online safety and recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Australia to deepen cooperation on online safety and security. 6.7 Ofcom recognises the importance of engaging with other regulators, having jointly established the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum in the UK and the Global Online Safety Regulators Network. Ofcom is planning an extensive work programme with other regulators in 2024-25. To promote increased regulatory collaboration, the department recently delivered a statutory instrument enhancing Ofcom’s ability to share online safety information with specified overseas regulators.