There is good news this week! On Friday Baroness Howe’s Online Safety
Bill passed its Committee Stage in the House of Lords. Although this is the fifth Online Safety Bill
which Baroness Howe has brought before the House it is the first time it has
passed through its Committee
Stage, which involves a detailed line by line examination. The next milestone will be the Report Stage
which is a further opportunity for peers to examine and propose amendments to
the Bill.
Referencing Lady Howe’s dogged efforts over
the last five years to bring an Online Safety Bill onto the statute books Lord
Framlingham asked “how many young children have had their lives really altered
for the worse in those five years simply because we in both Houses of
Parliament have not managed to give them the protection they deserve?” His sentiments were echoed by Lord Stevenson
who wished the Bill well and hoped this would finally be the occasion on which
progress would be made.
Sadly the Government continued to oppose
the Bill although the Minister acknowledged that many of its elements were “well
thought-out and well intentioned”. She
promised that they would “be taken on board in the resulting legislative
approach that we take in the New Year.” Such
legislation is necessary because new measures governing net neutrality passed
in Brussels
earlier this year mean that the current voluntary approach of ISPs to filtering
will no longer be permissible.
The Minister said that the Government’s
remained “absolutely committed to the protection of children online” and she
confirmed that a consultation, in line with the Conservative’s manifesto
commitment, on how best to implement age verification checks for those wishing
to access pornographic websites will take “shortly after the new year”.
The Minister finished by reiterating her
promise that “there can be no higher priority than keeping children safe
online”.
These positive developments come just a
month after the House of Lords debated the impact of pornography on
society. Baroness Howe has been
determined and bold in her efforts to protect children online and we wish her
well as her Bill moves into its Report Stage.
