Express yourself: Peers launch inquiry into online freedom of expression: s freedom of expression under threat online? How can technology be used to help protect it?

The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee is seeking views on these and other questions as it launches an investigation into how the right to freedom of expression should be protected online and how it should be balanced with other rights.

In a Call for Evidence the committee invites written contributions to its inquiry by Friday 15 January 2021.

Other questions posed by the committee include:

• How should good digital citizenship be promoted?
• Should online platforms be under a legal duty to protect freedom of expression?
• To what extent should users be allowed anonymity online?
• How can content moderation systems be improved?
• Would strengthening competition regulation of dominant online platforms help to make them more responsive to users’ views about content and moderation?

Lord Gilbert of Panteg, Chair of the Committee, said:

“In recent years there have been a growing number of controversies relating to the use of the right to freedom of expression online. We hope to hear views from all sides of the debate on the roles that platforms and the state should play in protecting or curtailing what users can say online.”

Notes to editor

1. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee is chaired by Lord Gilbert of Panteg and considers the media, digital and the creative industries.