Will the revised Online Safety Bill strike the right balance between protecting users and safeguarding freedom of expression?
Monday 5 December 2022
The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee will tomorrow 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.
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
