The government has published its long-awaited response to consultation on the Online Harms White Paper, outlining its latest plans to make the UK a safer place online. 

Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Priti Patel, Secretary of State for the Home Office, say the response will be the basis of legislation, with an Online Harms Bill expected in 2021. 

The response establishes a ‘duty of care’ for all tech platforms and services, along the lines of health and safety legislation designed to prevent harms at work. Strong sanctions are promised for firms that fail to protect children and adults using their services. 

Parent Zone welcomes the government’s ‘deliberately consultative and iterative approach’ to legislating, but hopes the final bill will reflect the ongoing concerns that families have. 

Vicki Shotbolt, founder and CEO of Parent Zone, commented: “We welcome the release of this response after such a significant delay. It's disappointing to see that gambling harms have been entirely overlooked. 

“Our work on the harms children experience whilst gaming demonstrates how important this issue is. 

“We welcome the duty of care with a cautionary note to parents who might be expecting a similar 'duty of care' to the one they rely on for their children in other settings. It's not that – but it is a start.”

Where the response works

Parent Zone endorses a number of developments in the response from previous positions in the White Paper, both of ideas and emphasis:

• The main focus is on protecting children. (All services will have a duty of care to children, while only the largest will be required to take action on harmful but legal harms affecting adults.)

• Ofcom will be the regulator, as suggested earlier this year, which will provide regulatory expertise and not require the setting up of a new body and further delays.

• The duty of care will cover private messaging services. Given the government’s strongly expressed determination to prevent online child sexual abuse, we assume this also includes those that are end-to-end-encrypted.

• The proposed sanctions are forceful, and include the ultimate power to stop platforms operating (the same sanction that applies to broadcasters).

• The legislation will finally ensure that children are prevented from accessing pornography – something that was supposed to become law more than a year ago.

• There is new emphasis on misinformation and disinformation, with a proposal for a working group to combat it (urgent now, with the need for UK citizens to be vaccinated).

• The legislation will apply to any services accessed in the UK, regardless of where they are based in the world.