I hope what I have said about the way that Ofsted and Ofcom are working together gives the noble Lord some reassurance. He is right, and it is not just in relation to the Department for Education. In my own department, we have discussed in previous debates on media literacy the importance of critical thinking, equipping people with the sceptical, quizzical, analytic skills they need—which art, history and English literature do as well. The provisions in this Bill focus on reducing harm because the Bill is focused on making the UK the safest place to be online, but he is right that media literacy work more broadly touches on a number of government departments.
Amendment 274BA would require Ofcom to promote an understanding of how regulated services’ business models operate, how they use personal data and the operation of their algorithmic systems and processes. We believe that Ofcom’s existing duty under the Communications Act already ensures that the regulator can cover these aspects in its media literacy activities. The duty requires Ofcom to build public awareness of the processes by which material on regulated services is selected or made available. This enables Ofcom to address the platform features specified in this amendment.
The Government’s amendments include extensive new objectives for Ofcom, which apply to harmful ways in which a service is used as well as harmful content. We believe it important not to add further to this duty when the outcomes can already be achieved through the existing duty. We do not wish to limit, by implication, Ofcom’s media literacy duties in relation to other, non-regulated services.
We also judge that the noble Lord’s amendment carries a risk of confusing the remits of Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office. UK data protection law already confers a right for people to be informed about how their personal data are being used, making this aspect of the amendment superfluous.
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Amendment 274BB would direct Ofcom to set minimum standards for media literacy activities and initiatives. The only body that has duties in relation to media literacy is Ofcom itself and there would be no obligation for any other organisation to follow these
standards. Ofcom could develop a voluntary standard for others but this could be achieved through proposed new subsection (1D), to be inserted by government Amendment 274B. This approach allows a flexibility that a requirement to set minimum standards would not. Rather than imposing a rigid set of standards, we are focusing on improving evaluation practices of media literacy initiatives to identify which measures are most effective and encourage their delivery.
Furthermore, Ofcom will be required to publish a statement recommending ways in which others, including platforms, can take action to support their users’ media literacy. Recommendations may include the development, pursuit and evaluation of activities or initiatives in relation to media literacy. This statement must also be published in a manner that Ofcom considers appropriate for bringing it to the attention of the persons who, in its opinion, are likely to be affected by it. Ofcom has undertaken extensive work to produce a comprehensive toolkit to support practitioners to deliver robust evaluations of their programmes. It was published in February this year and has met with praise from practitioners, including those who have received grant funding through the Government’s non-legislative media literacy work programme.
Having listened to this helpful debate, I remain confident that the provisions we are proposing will tackle the challenges that noble Lords have raised.