Will the revised Online Safety Bill strike the right balance between protecting users and safeguarding freedom of expression?

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