Internet regulation: Lords to ask NSPCC how children should be better protected online

In the first session, the Committee will question legal practitioners with expertise in media and defamation law and human rights. They will give their views on how internet regulation affects their clients and how regulation should evolve over the coming years.

The session will begin at 3.30pm in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords. The Committee will hear from:

• Jenny Afia, Partner, Schillings
• Mark Stephens, Partner, Howard Kennedy LLP

Topics that will be covered include:

• The liability of platforms for the content that they host
• Whether processes used by online platforms to moderate content are fair, effective and transparent
• The jurisdictional challenges of applying UK law to social media companies and other internet intermediaries
• The effect Brexit may have on the regulation of the internet.

In the second session, the Committee will question the NSPCC's Head of Child Online Safety and Professor Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics. They will be asked what principles of internet regulation need to be established to safeguard children and young people online and make the internet work better for them.

At 4:30pm the committee will question:

• Professor Sonia Livingstone OBE, London School of Economics
• Tony Stower, Head of Child Online Safety, NSPCC

Topics that will be covered include:

• The Government's response to its Internet Safety Strategy consultation
• How to ensure that excessive regulation does not prevent children from taking full advantage of the opportunities of the internet
• How the design of internet services may pose problems for children insofar as it affects the content that they view, encourages them to make certain decisions or makes decisions about them
• What information internet intermediaries should provide to children and young people about the use of their personal data.