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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this brief debate on this important issue. I am grateful for the manner in which the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, presented his case. He indicated that he was not entirely sure about the drafting of the amendment. I shall trade on that a little as it reflects the difficulties we all face with regard to these issues. We recognise that this is a very significant line to draw, particularly given the need to protect children from potentially harmful material. The noble Baroness, Lady Howe, indicated her interest in this issue, which is long established in any case, when she spoke on Second Reading. We know of the position of the noble Lord, Lord Monson, with regard to these issues. I am grateful for his intervention in the debate. However, as the right reverend Prelate indicated, we have to be careful where we tread because we certainly do not want to inhibit free speech and the proper discourse in a free society of issues pertaining to fundamentally held belief systems and views. I find myself in a position where I fully understand the views that have been expressed and I have considerable sympathy with some of the principles which have been expressed. However, I emphasise that certain types of video content are exempt from classification. They include those that, when taken as a whole, are concerned with sport, music or religion and include works that are designed to inform, educate or instruct. On the whole, we all expect such works to enjoy freedom of expression, because their intent is clearly benign and for the good of society. When the Video Recordings Act was drawn up, it was felt that, although the vast majority of this content should be exempt, if any otherwise exempted video work contained certain elements, such as sexual activity, they should fall back within the scope of the Act, because we recognised the capacity for the giving of offence, and in particular we were concerned about children. The current criteria listed in Section 2 of the Video Recordings Act have been working well for the past 25 years. The right reverend Prelate testified to certain successes in those terms. The vast majority of exempted video works are innocuous, and we believe that the existing text is sufficient to maintain the balance of proportionate regulation—which is what we are seeking—in an admittedly difficult and sensitive area. The existing criteria mean that video recordings are not exempted if they contain material such as gross violence or depictions of sexual activity et cetera. The Government remain unconvinced that the issue extends beyond a handful of titles. I know that there are concerns about one or two titles. We do not think that this is reflective of gross abuse, but one or two titles cause concern. Even with those, we are not convinced that the existing criteria set down in the Act are not sufficient to cover most of them in any event. Just because some video publishers claim exemption does not mean that they have a right to it. The Government believe that the intention behind the amendment, which was so articulately expressed this evening, is absolutely right; particularly the desire to protect children from inappropriate content. Although we do not believe that the amendment is the right way to achieve this—the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, indicated that he had some anxieties about the drafting of his amendment—we do agree that we need to consider the issue further. I hope the noble Lord will accept that the Government are not cut and dried in defence of what we have presented in the Bill. We think it has real substance to it, and we are talking about a very limited number of instances. Anxiety has been expressed, and there is wide support across the House for the general theme of the amendment in this difficult area. We intend to consider the matter further and bring forward a position on Report. Therefore, I hope that the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, will feel that his amendment has advanced the cause a considerable way. The Government will consider the matter further.