Statement on the passing of the Online Safety Bill

The Christian Institute’s Ciarán Kelly welcomed the Bill’s “much-needed protections for children online”, but cautioned: “we know all too well that there is a difference between a Bill being passed and its measures being enforced.

“Similar measures were passed six years ago in the Digital Economy Act 2017 but were never implemented. Ofcom have been regulating video-sharing platforms for effective age verification since 2020 and despite persistent failures, not a single fine has yet been issued. It is imperative that this time they show they mean business.”

Reflecting on the victory for free speech following a long-running CI campaign, Mr Kelly, Deputy Director of The CI, said: “The ‘legal but harmful’ clause would have placed huge financial pressure on tech firms to curb content which woke activists construed as ‘harmful’.

 “Institute supporters played a big part the clause being axed, and we can all be thankful that they did. But once again it’s up to Ofcom to ensure that vague terms of service and filtering aren’t now used as alternative tools to censor Christian content. We’ll be watching to see it carries out its role effectively.”