My Lords, it is an unusual pleasure to support the Minister and to say that this is a very welcome amendment to address a terrible error of judgment made when the Government first added the measure to the Bill in the other place and excluded data access for coroners in respect of children who died by means other than suicide. I shall not replay here the reasons why it was wrong, but I am extremely glad that the Government have put it right. I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to those past and present at 5Rights and the NSPCC for their support and to those journalists who understood why data access for coroners is a central plank of online safety.
I too recognise the role of the Bereaved Families for Online Safety. They bear the pain of losing a child and, as their testimony has repeatedly attested, not knowing the circumstances surrounding that death is a particularly cruel revictimisation for families, who never lose their grief but simply learn to live with it. We owe them a debt of gratitude for putting their grief to work for the benefit of other families and other children.
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I want to make two brief comments. The first is to say that, at one point in the process, I and the noble Lord, Lord Allan, who is in his place, provided input for guidance that was to be produced. In the tussle over the scope of the provision, however, that conversation came to an end. I therefore ask the Minister whether he is willing to arrange a meeting with me and other noble Lords and MPs who have championed this provision and, separately, with the Bereaved Families for Online Safety, so that we can be sure that the guidance meets the expectations of parliamentarians and reflects the lived experience of families.
Secondly, the tech companies have made clear that they follow our proceedings with interest. Across the world, they have gone to court to prevent legislation passing, undermine regulation and frustrate penalties. However, it was in an open court, at the inquest of Molly Russell, that the world saw just how cynical and wilfully careless the sector is. Via her Instagram account, Molly Russell viewed, liked and shared 2,100 pieces of content relating to depression, suicide or self-harm in a period of only six months. It was also in open court that the Chief Coroner came to the view that the
material recommended to Molly contributed to her death in more than a minimal way. Of course, both I and the Bereaved Families for Online Safety hope that the provisions in the broader Online Safety Act will make meaningful change to children’s online experience but, when the worst happens, we will, because of this provision, see again in open court the part that any regulated company plays in the death of a child. It is my hope that, as well as giving some succour to the families at the very worst moment of their lives, the court’s access to data will also make companies pause to think about the impact of their service design on children before they roll out products, and that they act more swiftly when the alarm is raised. Tech is 100% engineered and can be anything at once. Until the sector stops seeing harms to children as unfortunate collateral damage to their business model, they and we will have failed.