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Written question asked by Mark Pritchard (Conservative) on Friday, 9 October 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 13 October 2026. It was answered by Ian Murray (Labour) on Monday, 19 October 2026 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Social Media: Harassment

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with (a) YouTube and (b) other online platforms on how they can improve their systems and complaints processes for stopping (i) online harassment and (ii) impersonation.

Answer

The government regularly engages with services to reinforce expectations that they meet Online Safety Act duties. These require services to mitigate illegal harassment risks, remove such content swiftly, and provide accessible complaints procedures.

Services must also protect children from harmful content, including bullying. Impersonation may be illegal when used to facilitate offences. We have introduced further protections to ensure non-consensual intimate images are removed as soon as possible with an absolute backstop of 48 hours.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
31178
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Complaints Harassment Internet Personation Social media
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk