Peers urge government to 'change course' on online safety bill

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The Online Safety Bill in its current form gives too much power to the Culture Secretary and could undermine Ofcom's role as an independent regulator, warned a House of Lords committee.

The Lords Communications and Digital Committee has recommended that the government remove or amend several clauses of proposed internet safety laws which it says give the secretary Culture the power to order Ofcom to change the codes of practice used to enforce new online safety rules.

The Committee said these powers were "unnecessarily stretched" and warned that they could be used to change the codes to reflect the views of the Secretary of State.

The Committee wrote to Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan expressing concern and asking the government to consider removing or amending clau its of the bill on the matter, saying that a proposed government amendment setting out a list of grounds for issuing an instruction was "cosmetic and unsuitable". quate".

We took testimony from ministers about this on January 25th and we are still not convinced that many of the extended powers are necessary or justified

Baroness Stowell

Its chairwoman, Baroness Stowell, has said the government's 'nonchalant' approach to 'undermining the independence of the 'Ofcom' was "worrying".

"We took testimony from ministers about this on January 25 and are still not convinced that many of the sweeping powers are necessary or justified," said she said.

"The new online security regime is new and will require continued monitoring. But this must be done without diminishing Ofcom's independence from government, which is essential to maintaining public trust.

"It is one thing for Ofcom to receive strategic direction and advice from the government if necessary - and we support that.

"It is quite another to jeopardize the independence of the regulator on several fronts. The best solution is to strengthen Parliament's role, not the government's."

The Online Safety Bill is currently pending in Parliament and is expected to be considered by the House of Lords shortly.

>< p>The Committee letter also called for the reinstatement of requirements for social media platforms to carry out risk assessments of the possible impact of their content on adults.

These requirements have been deleted as part of the cha...