Oral QuestionDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology

What steps her Department is taking to help protect young people online.

Tabled: 29 January 2026Answered: 4 February 2026

Asked by

Danny Beales

LabourUxbridge and South Ruislip

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology

Answer from Hansard

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Kanishka Narayan)

With the groundbreaking steps in the Online Safety Act 2023, we are protecting children from illegal and harmful content online. The Secretary of State’s first step was to ensure that self-harm and suicide content were made priority offences. We have legislated to criminalise both the depiction of strangulation in pornography and the creation of non-consensual intimate images, making them priority offences. We have now launched a short, sharp consultation to protect children’s experiences online. Under this Government, children’s wellbeing is put right at the heart of our decisions.