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Andrew Selous

South West Bedfordshire

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Online Safety Bill (Private Communications)

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I am encouraged that the Digital Secretary has announced that extra priority illegal offences will be written on the face of the Online Safety Bill. New criminal offences and extra measures to force social media companies to stamp out the most harmful illegal content and criminal activity on their sites quicker. While in the draft Bill, firms would have been forced to take such content down after it had been reported to them by users, now they must be proactive and prevent people being exposed in the first place. 

These measures will help to clamp down on the spread of private sexual images of women without their consent. Furthermore, the new offences will capture a wider range of harms in different types of private and public online communication methods. These include harmful and abusive emails, social media posts and WhatsApp messages, as well as ‘pile-on’ harassment where many people target abuse at an individual such as in website comment sections. 

The Bill will create a harm-based communications offence to capture communications sent to cause harm without a reasonable excuse. This offence will make it easier to prosecute online abusers by abandoning the requirement under the old offences for content to fit within proscribed yet ambiguous categories such as “grossly offensive,” “obscene” or “indecent”. Instead, it is based on the intended psychological harm, amounting to at least serious distress, to the person who receives the communication, rather than requiring proof that harm was caused. 

The new offence will consider the context in which the communication was sent. This will better address forms of violence against women and girls, such as communications which may not seem obviously harmful but when looked at in light of a pattern of abuse could cause serious distress. For example, in the instance where a survivor of domestic abuse has fled to a secret location and the abuser sends the individual a picture of their front door or street sign.

Another offence being introduced is an offence for when a person sends a communication they know to be false with the intention to cause non-trivial emotional, psychological or physical harm. This covers false communications deliberately sent to inflict harm, such as hoax bomb threats, as opposed to misinformation where people are unaware what they are sending is false or genuinely believe it to be true.

Communications that are offensive but not harmful and communications sent with no intention to cause harm, such as consensual communication between adults, will not be captured. It will have to be proven in court that a defendant sent a communication without any reasonable excuse and did so intending to cause serious distress or worse, with exemptions for communication which contributes to a matter of public interest.

The draft Bill already included a duty of care on internet companies which host user-generated content, such as social media and video-sharing platforms, as well as search engines, to limit the spread of illegal content on these services.

I look forward to reading the provisions within the Bill and following its progress when it comes before Parliament.  

Campaign Responses

  • Access to Waterways
  • Adult Dependant Relative Visa
  • Adult Social Care
  • Afghanistan and Pakistan
  • Afghanistan: Nowzad
  • Afghanistan Refugees
  • Afghanistan Refugees (Christians)
  • Afghanistan Withdrawal
  • Age UK's Winter Warmth Campaign
  • Air Passenger Duty
  • Air Quality
  • Alcohol Duty
  • All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs)
  • Animal Research
  • Animal Testing - Dogs
  • Animal Welfare Legislation
  • Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill: Cats
  • Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill: Dogs
  • Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill
  • Arms Exports
  • Arms Exports: Israel
  • Arthritis
  • ASRU Change Programme
  • Assisted Suicide
  • Asylum Support and Employment
  • Aviation Industry Concerns
  • Badgers and Bovine TB
  • BBC Funding
  • BBC World Service
  • Behaviour in Schools
  • Bite Back Better Campaign
  • Bomb Disposal and Whales
  • Bowel Cancer Awareness Month
  • Breast Cancer
  • Building Safety Bill
  • Bus Deregulation
  • Business and Human Rights
  • Campaign - #CatchUpWithCancer
  • Cancer Research
  • Cancer Treatment
  • Carers and Unpaid Carers
  • Cash Availability and Acceptance
  • Channel 4
  • Child Maintenance Service (CMS)’s Collect and Pay Service
  • Child Poverty
  • Children with Sight Loss (Education)
  • Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill
  • Climate Change
  • Commercial Energy Prices
  • Consular Services in Afghanistan
  • Conversion Therapy
  • COP26
  • COP26 Commitments (100 Days)
  • Coronavirus: Clinically Extremely Vulnerable
  • Coronavirus: Coronavirus Act
  • Coronavirus: Face Coverings
  • Coronavirus: Face Coverings in School
  • Coronavirus: Hospitality Support
  • Coronavirus: International Travel
  • Coronavirus: Mandatory Vaccination
  • Coronavirus: NHS and Social Care Staff (Vaccines)
  • Coronavirus: Provision of Tests
  • Coronavirus: Regulations and Living with COVID
  • Coronavirus: Self Isolation
  • Coronavirus: Support for the Self-Employed
  • Coronavirus: Testing (Childminders)
  • Coronavirus: Travel Industry Support
  • Coronavirus: Vaccines (Developing Countries)
  • Coronavirus: Vaccine Passports
  • Coronavirus: VAT Threshold
  • Cost of Living
  • Courier Employment Rights
  • Dangerous Dogs Act
  • Deaths Related to the Benefits System
  • Defibrillators and the Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Bill
  • Dementia Research and Diagnosis
  • Democratic Freedoms in the UK
  • Derby County Football Club
  • Diabetes
  • Disability Benefit Assessments
  • Domestic Abuse (Serial Abusers & Stalkers)
  • Domestic Abuse (Time Limits)
  • Dr Liam Fox’s Down Syndrome Bill
  • Early Years Funding
  • Education and Development Globally
  • Elections Act
  • Elections Act - Blind and Partially Sighted Voters
  • Elections Act - Electoral Commission
  • Elections Act - First Past the Post
  • Elections Act - Joint Campaigning
  • Electronic Communications Code
  • Elephants and Ivory Sales
  • End Child Poverty Coalition
  • Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
  • Energy Price Cap
  • Energy Security Strategy
  • Environment Bill
  • Epilepsy
  • Epilepsy: Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
  • Fairtrade Fortnight Campaign
  • Fire and Rehire Tactics
  • Fireworks
  • Football Governance
  • Football Index
  • Fracking
  • Free Trade Agreement with Australia
  • Fuel Duty and Prices
  • Fuel Shortages
  • Fur and Foie Gras
  • Future of the TV Licence
  • Gambling with Credit Cards
  • Gambling Regulation
  • Gas Boilers
  • Glue Traps
  • Good Law Project & Runnymede: Mike Coupe & Dido Harding
  • Government Contracts
  • Green Alternatives to Gas Boilers
  • Green Finance
  • Green Investment - 2021 Spending Review
  • Green New Deal
  • Guidance on Boycotts (Stop BDS)
  • Hamas
  • Hate Crime (Misogyny)
  • Health and Care Bill
  • Health and Care Bill: Integrated Care Boards and Private Sector Providers
  • Health and Care Bill: Privatisation
  • Health and Care Bill: Workforce
  • Health and Disability Green Paper
  • Heat Pumps
  • Hedgehogs
  • Hedgerows
  • HGV Driver Shortage
  • HIV and AIDS
  • Holiday Lets
  • Housing and the Queen’s Speech
  • Housing Emergency (Shelter)
  • Housing First
  • HS2 and the Environment
  • HS2: Cost Transparency
  • HS2: General
  • Human Rights Act
  • Hunting Act 2004
  • Illegal Immigration (Nationality and Borders Bill)
  • Improving Access to the Countryside
  • Intellectual Property
  • Interest on Student Loans
  • Internet Regulation
  • Islamophobia
  • Israel: Amnesty International
  • Ivory Sales
  • Judicial Review
  • Keeping Primates as Pets
  • TV Licence Fee
  • Live Animal Exports
  • Living Wage and Key Workers
  • Loan Charge
  • Local Electricity Bill
  • Maternity Services
  • Meadows and Grasslands
  • Medicinal Cannabis
  • Menopause
  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health Facilities
  • Mental Health Hubs (Children and Young People)
  • Midwifery Units
  • Migrant Channel Crossings
  • Modern Slavery
  • Motor Neurone Disease
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • National Insurance Contributions
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Accommodation for Asylum Seekers)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Asylum and Refugees)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Clause 9)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Clause 11)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Overseas Asylum Processing)
  • Nationality and Borders Act (Unaccompanied Children)
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
  • Neonicotinoids
  • New Plan for Immigration
  • NHS Pay
  • NHS Preparations for Winter
  • NHS Privatisation
  • Nigeria: Mubarak Bala
  • Offshore Wind
  • Oil Drilling and Cambo Oil Field
  • Online Marketplaces (Regulation)
  • Online Safety Bill (Misinformation)
  • Online Safety Bill (Pornography)
  • Online Safety Bill (Private Communications)
  • Online Safety Bill (Protecting Children from Online Porn)
  • Online Safety Bill (Suicide and Self-Harm)
  • Online Safety Bill (Women and Girls)
  • Onshore Wind
  • Onshore Wind (Planning)
  • Palestinian Human Right Defenders
  • Palliative Care
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Parental Bereavement
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Pavement Parking
  • Peat
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Police and Sarah Everard Case
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Climate Protesters)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Courts and Tribunals)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Data Extraction)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Parliament Square)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Protection of Retail Workers)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Protests)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Protests and Noise)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Protests Tactics)
  • Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (Unauthorised Encampments)
  • Polluter Pays Bill
  • Prescription Charges
  • Prisons (Violence) Bill
  • Private Rented Sector
  • Processing Asylum Claims in Rwanda
  • Proportional Property Tax
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Protection of Pollinators
  • Public Inquiry on COVID-19
  • Public Sector Pensions
  • Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill
  • Puppy and Kitten Sales
  • Radiotherapy
  • Rail Vs Air Travel
  • Reforming Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing
  • Right to Work Checks
  • Royal Mail
  • Sarcoma UK Drop-In Session
  • Save Our Pubs (CAMRA)
  • SEND Funding
  • Sentencing (Dangerous Driving)
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Shared Parental Leave
  • Social Care Cap (Means Test)
  • Stamp Duty Land Tax
  • State Pension
  • State Pension Age
  • Statutory Sick Pay
  • Stop and Search
  • Support for Deaf Pupils
  • Support for People with Disabilities
  • Support for Renters
  • Support for Road Hauliers
  • Support for the Pig Industry
  • Support for the Travel Industry
  • Sustainable Fishing
  • Tax Avoidance
  • Teachers’ Pay
  • Tourism and VAT
  • Training Collars for Dogs
  • Transport for Disabled People
  • Trophy Hunting
  • UK Foreign Aid
  • UK Trade and Business Commission’s First Annual Report
  • Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits - £20 per Week Uplift
  • Universal Credit Standard Allowance for Those Under 25
  • Universities: Antisemitism (IHRA Definition)
  • Uplands
  • Vaccinations for COVID-19
  • Valerie's Law
  • Vaping
  • VAT on Electric Vehicle Charging in Public Places
  • Violence Against Women and Girls
  • Voter ID
  • Voting System
  • Water Fluoridation
  • Wealth Tax
  • Welfare of Farm Animals
  • Young People’s Wellbeing

Andrew Selous MP South West Bedfordshire

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