Online Safety Bill (re-committed Clauses and Schedules): call for evidence

The Bill has been reprinted, to take account of the changes made at Report Stage, and the latest version is available here: Bill as amended on Report.

The following table shows which Clauses and Schedules have been recommitted, and how those Clauses and Schedules referred to in the recommittal Programme (No. 4) Order are reflected in this latest version of the Bill:

For further information, please see the Written Ministerial Statement made on 30 November 2022, which details the proposed Government amendments. An updated version of these amendments has since been tabled.

The Public Bill Committee is expected to sit on Tuesday 13 and Thursday 15 December.

Any parties interested in submitting written evidence on the clauses and schedules detailed in the table above are advised to do so before the Committee meets on 13 December.

Follow the progress of the Online Safety Bill

The Online Safety Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 17 March 2022. Second reading was held on 19 April 2022. The Bill was scrutinised in a public bill committee from 24 May until 28 June 2022.

The House has debated the Bill, as amended in the public bill committee, on 2 separate dates: Tuesday 12 July  and Monday 5 December.

A draft Online Safety Bill, published in May 2021, was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of the two Houses of Parliament. The Committee’s report was published on 14 December 2021. The Government’s response was published on 17 March 2022 and explains how the Government has incorporated sixty-six of the Committee’s recommendations into the Bill.

• Bills before Parliament: Online Safety Bill 
• Read Explanatory Notes: Online Safety Bill
• House of Commons Library Briefing Paper

There will be no oral evidence sessions.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The Public Bill Committee is now able to receive written evidence. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration and possibly reflect it in an amendment. The order in which amendments are taken in Committee will be available in due course under Selection of Amendments on the Bill documents pages. Once the Committee has dealt with an amendment it will not revisit it.

The Public Bill Committee will scrutinise the Bill line by line. The Public Bill Committee is expected to meet on Tuesday 13 and Thursday 15 December only. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible.

What should written evidence cover?

Your submission should address matters contained within the re-committed Clauses and Schedules of the Bill and concentrate on issues where you have a special interest or expertise, and factual information of which you would like the Committee to be aware.

Your submission could most usefully:

• suggest amendments to the Bill, with supporting explanation; and
• (when amendments are published) support or oppose amendments tabled to the Bill by Members of Parliament, with supporting explanation

It is helpful if the submission includes a brief introduction about you or your organisation. The submission should not have been previously published or circulated elsewhere.

If you have any concerns about your submission, please contact the Scrutiny Unit (details below).

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk

Further guidance on submitting written evidence can be found here.

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