Lord Katz (Lab)

I thank my noble friend for the question, and indeed the long-held interest he has had in not just promoting football but helping to tackle the dark and ugly side of the beautiful game. I repeat: where there is a robust legal framework in place to deal with the perpetrators of racism, and other forms of hate crime, we expect the perpetrators of these abhorrent offences to be brought to justice. The UK Football Policing Unit works closely with football authorities, local police forces and, indeed, Kick It Out to investigate and prosecute online football-related hate crime, including seeking court-imposed football banning orders. The Independent Football Regulator will take racism extremely seriously. If an individual has faced legal, regulatory or disciplinary action related to racism, the regulator must consider it under the owners’ and directors’ test. Under the Online Safety Act, as I said, platforms now have a legal duty to safeguard all UK-based users from illegal content activity, including those around football. Platforms must proactively tackle and remove illegal content, including abuse, threats and harassment. Given the damaging impact that online hate crime has on its victims, those guilty of these offences should not be allowed to attend football matches.