The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee will next
week hold a special evidence session on the Online Safety Bill as
it returns to the House of Commons.
The Committee will question academic experts and the National
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children on whether the
Government is striking the right balance between protecting users
online while ensuring freedom of expression is not unduly
curtailed.
The session comes as the Government indicates it will drop
provisions to prohibit ‘legal but harmful’ content, while making
the promotion of self-harm online illegal. The session will allow
the Committee to gather evidence on the Government’s new approach
ahead of conducting further scrutiny in the New Year.
The Committee will also seek views from witnesses on aspects of
the legislation that should be subject to the most detailed
scrutiny when the Bill reaches the House of Lords.
Commenting ahead of the session, Baroness Stowell, Chair
of the Committee, said:
“Getting online safety right is essential, and complex.
Today’s announcement that the provisions on legal but harmful
content will be removed from the Bill marks a major shift. Our
evidence session will examine whether the Government’s new
approach to the Online Safety Bill delivers what is needed and
strikes the right balance between protecting children online and
freedom of speech.”
The evidence session will start at 2:30pm on Tuesday 6
December in the House of Lords. Giving evidence to the Committee
will be:
- Professor Lorna Woods, Professor of Internet Law, Essex Law
School at University of Essex
- Dr Edina Harbinja, Senior Lecturer in Media and Privacy Law,
Aston Law School at Aston University
- Matthew Feeney, Head of Technology and Innovation at Centre
for Policy Studies
- Richard Collard, Policy and Regulatory Manager at NSPCC
