Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 28
Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for online safety regulation
Published 21 Feb 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Preparedness for online safety regulation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
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
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirteenth Report - Preparedness for online safety regulation (HC 73), 21 February 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 3 May 2024 (deadline 21 April 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee's recommendations on codes of practice deadlines, compliance monitoring, the fee regime and evaluation, and disagrees with those on complaint feedback and skills audits.
- On codes of practice, the government agrees and states that Ofcom "is on track" to submit its illegal harms and protection of children Codes to the Secretary of State by 26 April 2025.
- On feedback to complainants, the government disagrees, stating that the Act "does not empower Ofcom to adjudicate on individual complaints"; these should go to the provider.
- On the fee regime, the government agrees. Ofcom will consult publicly in Summer 2024, with the aim of implementing the fees regime in the 2026-27 financial year.
- On skills audits, the government disagrees, stating that both organisations "already have effective workforce planning processes", which fulfil the intent of the recommendation.