Gosport MP and former Minister for Digital and Culture, Dame Caroline Dinenage, today welcomed the return of the Online Safety Bill to Parliament.
The Culture Secretary, Michelle Donelan, today unveiled the newly amended Bill, which tightens some protections but drops measures that mandate social media companies to remove ‘legal but harmful’ content.
Speaking on BBC News this morning (November 29) Caroline stressed the importance of the Online Safety Bill to passing through the remaining stages of Parliament and on to Royal Assent before the end of this Parliamentary session.
She also expressed concern at the removal of Legal But Harmful protections from the Bill, which she saw as an important measure to protect vulnerable adult internet users from harmful content and algorithms.
The Bill, which has already been carried over from a previous Parliamentary session, needs to reach Royal Assent before the end of this Parliamentary Session this Spring, otherwise it will time out.
Caroline previously served as the Minister responsible for earlier drafts of this legislation, as Minister for Digital and Culture from February 2020 to September 2021. Since returning to the backbenches, she has repeatedly lobbied for robust management of harmful content on online platforms.
Dame Caroline said:
“This is still a ground breaking piece of legislation, which will deliver the aim of making this one of the safest countries in the world to be online. The protections for children and determination to tackle illegal content are still paramount.
“I do have concerns about the removal of ‘legal but harmful’. If we are serious about really tackling some of the harms of the online world we need to protect vulnerable adults from the algorithms which effectively create an echo chamber, where dangerous viewpoints and paranoias are normalised and people signposted to more dangerous and explicit content.”
“It’s a great piece of legislation, but it could be better.”
