Previously called Standing Committees, Public Bill Commitees study proposed legislation (Bills) in detail, debating each clause and reporting any amendments to the Commons for further debate.
There are at least 16 MPs on a Committee, and the proportion of parties reflects the House of Commons, so the government always has a majority.
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
Kevin Bakhurst and Richard Wronka gave evidence.
Dame Rachel de Souza, Lynn Perry MBE and Andy Burrows gave evidence.
Ben Bradley and Katy Minshall gave evidence.
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
Richard Earley, Becky Foreman and Katie O’Donovan gave evidence.
Professor Clare McGlynn, Jessica Eagelton and Janaya Walker gave evidence.
Lulu Freemont, Ian Stevenson and Adam Hildreth gave evidence.
Jared Sine, Nima Elmi and Dr Rachel O’Connell gave evidence.
Rhiannon-Faye McDonald and Susie Hargreaves OBE gave evidence.
Ellen Judson and Kyle Taylor gave evidence.
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
Mat Ilic, William Moy, Professor Lorna Woods MBE and William Perrin OBE gave evidence.
Danny Stone MBE, Stephen Kinsella OBE and Liron Velleman gave evidence.
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
Stephen Almond gave evidence.
Sanjay Bhandari and Lynn Perry gave evidence.
Eva Hartshorn-Sanders and Poppy Wood gave evidence.
Owen Meredith and Matt Rogerson gave evidence.
Tim Fassam, Rocio Concha and Martin Lewis gave evidence.
Frances Haugen gave evidence.
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Before we proceed, perhaps this is the moment to explain what should happen and what is probably going to happen. Ordinarily, a clause is taken with amendments. This Chairman takes a fairly...
I beg to move amendment 10, in clause 8, page 6, line 33, at end insert— “(4A) A duty to publish the illegal content risk assessment and proactively...
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
Amendment proposed (this day): 10, in clause 8, page 6, line 33, at end insert— “(4A) A duty to publish the illegal content risk assessment and proactively supply this...
Amendments 20, 26, 18 and 21 to clause 9 have already been debated. Does the shadow Minister wish to press any of them to a vote?
I beg to move amendment 15, in clause10, page 8, line 41, at end insert— “(4A) A duty for the children’s risk assessment to be approved by either—...
We now come to amendment 95, tabled by the hon. Member for Upper Bann, who is not on the Committee. Does anyone wish to move the amendment? If not, we will move on.
I beg to move amendment 12, in clause 12, page 12, line 10, a t end insert— “(4A) A duty to publish the adults’ risk assessment and proactively...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 46, in clause 14, page 14, line 12, a fter “non-verified users” insert “and to enable them to see whether another user is...
I beg to move amendment 105, in clause 15, page 14, line 33, a fter “ensure” insert “the safety of people involved in UK elections and”.
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment proposed: 16, in clause 25, page 25, line 10, a t end insert— “(3A) A duty for the children’s risk assessment to be approved by...
I call Kirsty Blackman to move amendment 22. [Interruption.] Sorry—my bad, as they say. I call Barbara Keeley to move amendment 22.
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
Amendment proposed (this day): 22, in clause 31, page 31, line 17, leave out subsection (3).—(Barbara Keeley.) This amendment removes the condition that applies a child use...
I beg to move amendment 23, in clause 34, page 33, line 41, after “service” insert “that targets users”.
Amendments made: 91, in clause 35, page 34, line 3, le ave out from “to” to end of line 5 and insert— “(a) prevent individuals from...
Amendment proposed: 44, in clause 36, page 35, line 10, a t end insert— “(4A) An offence under Part 3 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading...
Amendment 96 has been tabled by Carla Lockhart, who is not on the Committee. Does anyone wish to move amendment 96? No.
Amendment proposed: 63, in schedule 4, page 176, line 29, at end insert “and (x) there are adequate safeguards to monitor cruelty towards humans and animals;”. This...
Before we begin the next debate, does anyone wish to speak to Carla Lockhart’s amendment 97? If so, it will be debated as part of this group; otherwise, it will not be selected. The...
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
I beg to move amendment 84, in clause 40, page 38, line 5, leave out subsection (a). This amendment would remove the ability of the Secretary of State to modify Ofcom codes of...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 89, in clause 49, page 45, line 16, l eave out subsection (e). This amendment would remove the exemption for comments below news articles...
I beg to move amendment 107, in clause 50, page 46, line 46, l eave out from end to end of clause and insert “is a member of an approved regulator (as defined...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 61, in clause 52, page 49, line 5, at end insert— “(4A) An offence referred to in subsection (4) is deemed to have occurred if...
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
I beg to move amendment 142, in schedule 7, page 183, line 11, leave out from “under” to the end of line and insert “any of the following provisions of the...
I have had no indication that anybody wishes to move Carla Lockhart’s amendment 98—she is not a member of the Committee.
I beg to move amendment 83, in clause 54, page 50, line 39, a t end insert— “(2A) Priority content designated under subsection (2) must include content...
I beg to move amendment 62, in clause 55, page 52, line 4, af ter “OFCOM” insert “and other stakeholders, including organisations that campaign for...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 1, in clause 62, page 55, line 14, l eave out “maximum summary term for either-way offences” and insert “general limit in a...
I beg to move amendment 54, in clause 64, page 56, line 29, l eave out “Once” and insert “Twice”. This amendment would change the requirement...
Amendment proposed: 55, in schedule 8, page 188, line 42, at end insert— “31A The notice under section 64(1) must require the provider to provide the following...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 114, in clause 68, page 60, line 13, a t end insert— “(2A) A duty to verify that every individual featured in regulated provider...
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
We start with amendment 127 to clause 69. It is up to the Committee, but I am minded to allow this debate to go slightly broader and take the stand part debate with it.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Now we come to those amendments, which have not yet been moved. The problem is that amendment 82 is linked to amendment 80. I think I am right in saying that if amendment 80 falls, amendment 82...
I beg to move amendment 34, in clause 83, page 72, line 12, a t end insert— “(d) the risk of harm posed by individuals in the United Kingdom in relation...
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Clauses 86 to 91 stand part. Schedule 11 stand part.
Amendment made: 4, in schedule 11, page 202, line 17, leave out “maximum summary term for either-way offences” and insert “general limit in a...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment made: 2, in clause 96, page 83, line 15, l eave out “maximum summary term for either-way offences” and insert “general limit in a...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
(Afternoon)
There are amendments to clause 103 that are not owned by any member of the Committee. Nobody has indicated that they wish to take them up, and therefore they fall.
I beg to move amendment 35, in clause 104, page 88, line 39, leave out “prevalence” and insert “presence”. This amendment requires that...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 53, in clause 111, page 94, line 24, at end insert— “Section 136(7C) Code of practice on access to data” This amendment is...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
(Morning).
We now come to amendment 135 to clause 118, with which it will be convenient to discuss amendments 136 to 138. All these amendments have been tabled by Carla Lockhart, who is not a member of the...
Amendments made: 154, in clause 120, page 102, line 20, after “71” insert: “or Schedule (Recovery of OFCOM’s initial costs)”. This amendment, and Amendments 155 to...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment made: 158, in schedule 12, page 206, line 43, leave out paragraph 8.—(Chris Philp.) Paragraph 8 of Schedule 12 requires monetary penalties to be paid into the...
I beg to move amendment 50, in clause 123, page 106, line 36, ;at end insert— “(9A) OFCOM may apply to the court for service restriction orders against...
Amendment proposed: 51, in clause 125, page 110, line 20, at end insert— “(7A) OFCOM may apply to the court for service restriction orders against multiple regulated services with one...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 7, in clause 129, page 114, line 3, at end insert— “(aa) the Information Commissioner, and”. This amendment ensures that...
I beg to move amendment 57, in clause 130, page 115, line 4, leave out “18” and insert “6” This amendment changes the period by which the...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Briefly, before I hand over to my hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South, I should say that Labour welcomes clause 137, which gives Ofcom a discretionary power to publish reports...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 143, in clause 140, page 121, line 1, after “services” insert “, consumers”.
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
Amendment proposed: 67, in clause 140, page 121, line 20, at end insert “, or a particular group that campaigns for the removal of harmful online content towards humans and...
Amendment proposed: 153, in clause 141, page 121, line 32, after “140” insert “, which must include the requirement that OFCOM must respond to such complaints within 90...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 112, in clause 150, page 127, line 28, ;at end insert “and; (b) physical harm that has been acquired as a consequence of receiving the...
I beg to move amendment 41, in clause 156, page 131, line 15, ;at end insert— “(za) B has not consented for A to share the photograph or film with B,...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment made: 159, in clause 160, page 133, line 6, after “71” insert “or Schedule (Recovery of OFCOM’s initial costs)”.—(Chris Philp.) This...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Powers to amend Schedules 5, 6 and 7
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment made: 160, in clause 179, page 146, line 13, ;at end insert “, or (k) regulations under paragraph 7 of Schedule (Recovery of OFCOM’s initial...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment 111 is not claimed; it has been tabled by the hon. Member for Stroud (Siobhan Baillie), who is not a member of the Committee. I am assuming that nobody wishes to take ownership of it...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 141, in clause 192, page 160, line 9, at end insert— “(aa) section (Offence under the Obscene Publications Act 1959: OFCOM...
Amendment 139 was tabled by a Member who is not a member of the Committee, and nobody has claimed it, so we come to amendment 49.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
“(1) Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (prohibition of publication of obscene matter) is amended in accordance with subsections (2) and (3). (2) After subsection (5)...
“Schedule (Recovery of OFCOM’s initial costs) makes provision about fees chargeable to providers of regulated services in connection with OFCOM’s recovery of costs incurred on...
“(1) Section 400 of the Communications Act (destination of penalties etc) is amended as follows. (2) In subsection (1), after paragraph (i) insert— ‘(j) an amount paid to OFCOM...
“(1) There is to be a body corporate (‘the Advocacy Body’) to represent interests of child users of regulated services. (2) A ‘child user’— (a) means any...
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
“(1) This section sets out the duties to disclose information to OFCOM which apply in relation to all regulated user-to-user services. (2) A regulated user-to-user service must disclose to...
“(1) A provider of a Category 2A service must operate the service using systems and processes designed to clearly distinguish to users of that service paid-for advertisements from all other...
“(1) A provider of a Category 2A service must operate an advertisement verification process for any relevant advertisement appearing in or via search results of the service. (2) In this...
“(1) The Secretary of State must publish a report which— (a) reviews the extent to which Category 1 services have fulfilled their duties under— (i) Clause 15; and (ii) Clause...
“(1) OFCOM must produce guidance for providers of Category 1 services on how to comply with the duty set out in section 57(1). (2) In producing the guidance (including revised or...
“Whenever a Category 1 service carries out any risk assessment pursuant to Part 3 of this Act, the service must— (a) submit the risk assessment to OFCOM; and (b) publish the risk...
“(1) This section applies where OFCOM has reasonable grounds for believing that circumstances exist that present a threat— (a) to the health or safety of the public, or (b) to...
“(1) The Secretary of State may on receipt of a code write within one month of that day to OFCOM with reasoned, evidence-based suggestions for modifying the code. (2) OFCOM shall have due...
“(1) A relevant regulated entity (“C”) is liable for penalties set out in the Bill where a person or company (“A”) associated with C and considered by a user to be a...
“(1) In addition to the duty on OFCOM to promote media literacy under section 11 of the Communications Act 2003, OFCOM must take such steps as they consider appropriate to improve the media...
“(1) A search service which uses an algorithm to suggest search terms to users, an “algorithmic prompt”, must not apply any algorithm where any of the words in the search term...
“(1) OFCOM must maintain arrangements for identifying and understanding patterns in the presence and dissemination of harmful misinformation and disinformation on regulated services. (2)...
“(1) OFCOM may, at any time it considers appropriate, produce a report into how regulated services commission, collate, publish and make use of research. (2) For the purposes of the report,...
“(1) For the purposes of this Act, any provision applied to priority illegal content should also be applied to any content which— (a) constitutes, (b) encourages, or (c) promotes...
“A user may bring civil proceedings against the provider of a regulated service in respect of a breach by a provider of any of its duties under Part 3 of this Act.”— This new...
“(1) OFCOM must publish and lay before Parliament an annual report on the operation of its regulatory functions under this Act. (2) The report must include— (a) an overall assessment...
“(1) The Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament a report on the harms caused to users by synthetic media content appearing on regulated services. (2) The report must...
[Christina Rees in the Chair]
“(1) The Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament a report on the harms caused to users by synthetic media content appearing on regulated services. (2) The report must...
“OFCOM: power to impose duties on regulated services (1) OFCOM may carry out an assessment of the risk of harm posed by any regulated service. (2) Where OFCOM assess a service to pose a...
“(1) This section applies where a Part 3 service has empowerment features for adults of a type described in section 14(2). (2) OFCOM may require a service to provide equivalent features...
“(1) This section applies to the following functions— (a) any user empowerment features provided under section 14; (b) any content reporting systems or processes under section 17 or...
“(1) In the Suicide Act 1961, after section 3 insert— “3A Communication offence for encouraging or assisting self-harm (1) A person (“A”) commits an offence...
“(1) There shall be a Committee, to be known as the Digital Regulation Committee and in this section referred to as “the Committee”, to undertake the following functions in...
“(1) This section sets out duties which apply in relation to internet services within section 67(2). (2) A duty to take appropriate steps to keep an adults’ risk assessment up to...
“(1) This section sets out duties which apply in relation to internet services within section 67(2). (2) A duty to summarise in the terms of service the findings of the most recent...
“(1) This section sets out duties which apply in relation to internet services within section 67(2). (2) A duty to operate an internet service using proportionate systems and processes...
“(1) OFCOM may co-operate with a regulator established by statute or a recognised self-regulatory body in the United Kingdom, including by disclosing online safety information to that...
Recovery of initial costs 1 (1) This Schedule concerns the recovery by OFCOM of an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts of WTA receipts which, in accordance with section 401(1) of the...
[Sir Roger Gale in the Chair]
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are sitting in public and the proceedings are being broadcast. I have a few preliminary announcements. Hansard would be grateful if Members would provide...
I beg to move amendment 98, in clause 11, page 10, line 17, a t end insert “, and— (c) mitigate the harm to children caused by habit-forming features of...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
[Dame Angela Eagle in the Chair]
Before we begin, I have a few preliminary announcements. Hansard colleagues would be grateful if Members could email their speaking notes to hansardnotes@ parliament.uk. Please switch electronic...
Question (this day) again proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Question put, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
I beg to move amendment 8, in clause 14, page 14, line 3, leave out “harmful content” and insert— “content to which this subsection applies”. This...
Amendment made: 18, in clause 18, page 19, line 15, l eave out subsection (5).—(Paul Scully.) This amendment is consequential on the removal of the adult...
Amendment made: 21, in clause 19, page 20, line 15, l eave out “, (3) or (4)” and insert “or (3)”.—(Paul Scully.) This amendment...
I beg to move amendment 28, in clause 20, page 21, line 42, after “have” insert “particular”. This amendment has the result that providers of...
Amendments made: 32, in clause 21, page 23, line 5, le ave out “, 10 or 12” and insert “or 10”. This amendment is consequential on Amendment...
Amendments made: 36, in clause 30, page 31, line 31, a fter “have” insert “particular”. This amendment has the result that providers of...
Amendments made: 38, in clause 46, page 44, line 27, a fter “have” insert “particular”. This amendment has the result that providers of...
Amendments made: 42, in clause 56, page 54, line 40, l eave out subsection (3). This amendment is consequential on Amendment 41 (removal of clause 55). Amendment 43,...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendments made: 61, in schedule 8, page 203, line 13, leave out “priority content that is harmful to adults” and insert “relevant content”. This...
[Dame Angela Eagle in the Chair]
Amendments made: 46, in clause 79, page 69, line 35, a fter “Chapter 1” insert “or 2A”. Clause 79 is about OFCOM’s general duties. This...
I beg to move amendment 48, in clause 82, page 72, line 21, a t end insert— “(ca) a regulated user-to-user service meets the conditions in section (List...
I beg to move amendment 76, in schedule 11, page 213, line 11, at end insert “, and (c) any other characteristics of that part of the service or factors relating to that part...
Amendment made: 50, in clause 87, page 78, line 18, a t end insert—
Amendments made: 51, in clause 90, page 82, line 5, le ave out “12,”. This amendment is consequential on Amendment 6 (removal of clause 12). Amendment...
We now come to Government amendments 54 and 55 to clause 115.
Amendment made: 56, in clause 155, page 133, line 27, after “Chapter 1” insert “or 2A”.—(Paul Scully.) Clause 155 is about a review by the Secretary of State of the...
Amendment made: 57, in clause 169, page 143, line 15, ;at end insert— “(fa) Chapter 2A of Part 4 (terms of service: transparency, accountability and...
Amendments made: 94, in schedule 17, page 235, line 43, leave out paragraph (c). This amendment is consequential on Amendment 6 (removal of clause 12). Amendment 95, in...
I beg to move amendment 105, in clause 203, page 167, line 8, after “including” insert “but not limited to”. This amendment makes clear that...
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Amendment made: 60, in clause 207, page 173, line 15, leave out “to” and insert “and”.—(Paul Scully.) This amendment is consequential on...
“(1) OFCOM must produce guidance for providers of Part 3 services which contains examples of content or kinds of content that OFCOM consider to be, or consider not to be— OFCOM must...
“(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Part. (2) References to restricting users’ access to content, and related references, include any case where a provider takes or...
“(1) A provider of a Category 1 service must operate the service using proportionate systems and processes designed to ensure that the provider does not— (a) take down regulated...
All services “(1) A provider of a regulated user-to-user service must include clear and accessible provisions in the terms of service informing users about their right to bring a claim for...
“(1) OFCOM must produce guidance for providers of Category 1 services to assist them in complying with their duties set out in sections (Duty not to act against users except in accordance...
“(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Chapter. (2) “Regulated user-generated content” has the same meaning as in Part 3 (see section 50), and references to such...
“(1) As soon as reasonably practicable after the first regulations under paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 11 come into force (regulations specifying Category 1 threshold conditions), OFCOM must...
“(1) This section sets out the duties to empower child users which apply in relation to Category 1 services. (2) A duty to include in a service, to the extent that it is proportionate to do...
“(1) The provider of a service to whom a relevant duty applies commits an offence if the provider fails to comply with the duty. (2) Where the provider is an entity and the offence is...
Committee membership and attendance (out of 20)
Chairpersons
Members
[ Committee memberships can change partway through ]
