I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. He has been a passionate advocate on that point, speaking on behalf of his constituent Joe Nihill and his family for more protections in the Bill. It is clear that we need to know whether the legislation works in practice. Parliamentary oversight of that is essential, so I echo calls around the Chamber for that review. How will it take place? What will it look like? Parliament must have oversight, so that we know whether the legislation is fit for purpose.
2.45 pm
Let me turn to the amendments. Labour is particularly pleased to see the Government follow the excellent lead of Baroness Kidron in the other place by addressing the
alarming gaps in children’s risk assessments. Those amendments will go some way to ensuring that social media platforms have to carefully consider harmful content both created and disseminated to children when using their services. This is an incredibly important point. With online content being constantly available and drip-fed to children thanks to autoplay features, it is right that risk assessments relating to harm will have to include widespread provisions.
I wonder, however, if the Minister could explain one particular point. The Government’s own press releases have long lauded the Bill as focused on child safety. Indeed, in the Secretary of State’s open letter in December to all parents, carers and guardians, she notes:
“The strongest protections in this legislation are for children and young people.”
I would therefore be interested to hear from the Minister exactly why the Bill makes no specific reference to children’s rights, or more specifically the UN convention on the rights of the child. It is the most widely ratified international human rights treaty in history, yet it is missing from the Bill. I hope the Minister can clarify that for us all.
It will come as no surprise that Labour is proud that the Government have conceded on an important amendment that will see social media sites required to proactively remove animal torture content online. I first raised that issue in Committee more than a year ago. Vile animal torture content has no place online or in society. I am proud that it was the Labour party that first recognised the alarming gap in the Government’s earlier draft of the Bill. Research from the RSPCA showed that, in 2021, there were 756 reports of animal abuse on social media, compared with 431 in 2020 and 157 in 2019. We can all see that this horrific content is more widespread and common than we might initially have believed. Thanks to Labour party colleagues in the other place, particularly Baroness Merron, it will no longer be tolerated online.
I am particularly proud to see the Government adopt an amendment that represents a move towards a risk-based approach to service categorisation. This is an important point and a significant concession from the Government. Along with many others, I repeatedly warned the Government that, by focusing on a size versus risk approach to categorisation, the online safety regime was doomed to fail. Put simply, we could have been left in a position where some of the most harmful websites and platforms, including 4chan and BitChute, which regularly host and promote far right, antisemitic content, slipped through the cracks of the legislation. None of us wanted that to happen, but in May 2022 the then Minister chose not to accept a cross-party amendment in Committee that could have resolved the issue more than a year ago.
We are pleased to see progress, and thank colleagues in the other place for seeing sense, but that approach highlights the Government’s wider strategy for online safety: one based on delay and indecision. If we needed more proof, we only have to turn to the Government’s approach to allow researcher access to data relating to the online safety regime. Labour welcomes small Government amendments in the other place on this point, but there are real-world consequences if the Government do not consider improving levels of transparency. Other jurisdictions across the globe are
looking at strengthening their data transparency provisions because they recognise that regulators such as Ofcom need academics and civil society to have sight of data in the most complex of cases. In Australia and Canada, there is real progress. Our friends across the pond in the USA have recently signed a deal with the EU that will see them committed to working together on researcher access to data.
The Secretary of State talks a good game about our world-leading universities and research environment, and claims that she wants the UK to be a leader, yet inaction is putting our country and our homegrown talent pool at a disadvantage. Let us be clear: access to data goes further than academics. In the last month, Elon Musk has sought to sue the Centre for Countering Digital Hate and the Anti-Defamation League, organisations filled to the brim with brilliant British research excellence. I recognise that the Government have made a loose commitment to go further in future legislation, but that has not been formally outlined. I sincerely hope that the promises made to bereaved parents about further progress in the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill are kept. I would be grateful for some reassurance from the Minister on that point.
Labour has long campaigned for stronger protections to keep people—both children and adults—safe online. The Bill has made remarkable progress, thanks to our colleagues in the other place coming together and genuinely putting people’s priorities over party politics and political gain. Labour has always supported an online safety regime, and has sought to work with the Government while raising valid concerns carefully throughout. We all want to keep people safe and there is broad consensus that social media companies have failed to regulate themselves. Labour is proud of the changes it has developed and pushed on, but this is not the end. We will continue to push the Government to deliver this regime in good time and to ensure that it is reviewed regularly and has appropriate parliamentary oversight. After all, children and adults across the UK deserve, as a first priority, to be kept safe. The Minister knows we will be closely watching.