Is the Online Safety Act delivering on its original aims? Lords Committee to question key figures involved in its development and scrutiny

The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee will next week take evidence from Baroness Kidron, Sir Jeremy Wright MP, former MP Damian Collins and Professor Lorna Woods as it explores their views on the impact and effectiveness of the Online Safety Act (OSA).

Damian Collins chaired the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill and served as the government minister with responsibility for the Bill from July to October 2022. Baroness Kidron was also a member of the Joint Committee, while Sir Jeremy Wright was Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport when the Government published its Online Harms White Paper in 2019. Professor Woods co-developed the original statutory duty of care proposal that helped shape the legislation.

The Committee will explore how far the witnesses believe the OSA is delivering on its original ambition to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online, and what changes may be needed to improve its effectiveness.

The evidence session will start at 2pm on Tuesday 3 November in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords.

Issues the session will cover include:

• Can the OSA still achieve its original aims, or is more fundamental reform needed?

• Has the OSA's safe harbour' provision created a ceiling, rather than a floor, for platforms' efforts to mitigate risk? How should it be revised?

• What more needs to be done to ensure online platforms are safe by design'?

• Has Ofcom's interpretation and implementation of the OSA aligned with Parliament's expectations for the regulator?

• Does Ofcom have sufficient enforcement powers to secure compliance with the OSA, and where might these need to be strengthened?

• Is the current approach to updating the online safety regime sufficient to keep pace with emerging technologies and harms, and does it allow for effective parliamentary scrutiny?