My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, on her comprehensive introduction, expressing the urgency of the situation, which was also stressed by the noble Baroness, Lady Masham, in another interesting contribution for which I thank her. This is a difficult and hugely important issue, and it needs serious consideration on two counts. We have to look beyond the present situation with anti-vaccine campaigners and decide very carefully what is information and how we should combat damaging information being spread. Secondly, how do we reserve the right of the individual to use social media to express their personal views?
I spent six years on the Press Council, dealing with complaints. It was taxing, but today the print media is regulated to a greater extent. Even then, accountability for what should be published and what should not lay with not only the journalist who had written the article but with the editor and, in some newspapers, the owner.
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However, social media is not regulated. A Private Member’s Bill by the noble Lord, Lord McNally, was introduced and had its First Reading exactly a year
ago today, 14 January 2020. It never received a Second Reading or reached further stages in either the Lords or Commons. He was prescient. Perhaps if we had enacted that Bill we would be in a better place than we are today.
Not all is lost, however. As I understand it, a government Bill is to be introduced in the next Session of Parliament. There is an ongoing debate as to whether there should be pre-legislative scrutiny. I hope that there will be. The Government have also produced their response to the consultation carried out on the dilemmas we face. They clearly understand how difficult it is to get this right.
Social media has democratised communication, and that is a good thing. News and opinions are not the sole province of those who are well educated or articulate but are for any individual who wishes to express views or opinions. Some are, of course, deeply harmful—for example, children who are bullied by others and so on. Some are simply irritating. Others express views of great value. What do we do about social media?
It was interesting that the noble Baroness, Lady Masham, raised the issue of measles. I was a Health Minister and responsible for infectious diseases. When I left that post in 1997, there were no cases of home-grown measles. That was before Andrew Wakefield started his anti-vax campaign, which was hugely damaging. Today, not only do we have many cases of measles but in 2019 there were 810 cases. We also have had deaths.
I therefore share the sentiments of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, but we are into the debate we had on Tuesday. This is about benefits versus risks and whether we should uphold the freedom of the press in all its different forms, or whether it should be controlled. That needs a lot of thought. We need legislation and that will take time. The problem is urgent and I accept that but, much as I would like to support the amendment, it is difficult to find a quick solution. The risk of agreeing to it in the Bill is that we are in danger of doing more harm than good because this is a big issue that needs a lot of clever minds and thought in deciding how we go forward.
We should not rush on this. We have to get it right. However, I am disappointed, not only not to be able to support the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, because she has been so generous in supporting my amendments, but because this subject is truly difficult. We need to concentrate minds and the amendment is a way to do that. It is a good initiative but we have to be careful to ensure that the Government give their proposed Bill priority, which they say they will do in the next Session. We should do all we can to ensure that that happens.