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Internet: Discrimination

Asked by Jas AthwalLabourDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled Answered 25 March 2025UIN 38792

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help reduce misogynistic content online.

Answered by Feryal Clark

The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to proactively tackle the most harmful illegal content, including illegal misogyny.

Where this type of abuse is not illegal, services likely to be accessed by children must provide safety measures to protect them from harmful and age-inappropriate content and activity, including content which is hateful and abusive. Category 1 services will also need to remove legal misogynistic content, where it is prohibited in their terms of service.

The Act requires Ofcom, the regulator, to publish guidance about protecting women and girls online, which it published in draft for consultation on 25 February.

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