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Lord Young of Acton (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 15 September 2025

Debate

Online Safety Act 2023: Virtual Private Networks

Contribution

My Lords, as I am sure the Minister is aware, two of the duties in the Online Safety Act that are designed to safeguard free speech are those imposed on category 1 providers to not remove content of democratic importance and journalistic content. But those duties come into force only once Ofcom has drawn up a list of the category 1 providers and registered them. But Ofcom has not done that yet, which has led, I believe, to over-removal of content of democratic importance and journalistic content by the large social media platforms. Can the Minister tell us when Ofcom is likely to designate providers as category 1 so that those duties come into force and free speech is better protected?

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