My Lords, I think this may have been a brief interlude of positivity. I am not entirely convinced, in view of some of the points that have been made, but certainly I think that it was intended to be.
I will speak first to Amendments 30 and 105. I do not know what the proprieties are, but I needed very little prompting from the LEGO Group to put forward amendments that, in the online world, seek to raise the expectation that regulated services must go beyond purely the avoidance of risk of harm and consider the positive benefits that technology has for children’s development and their rights and overall well-being. It has been extremely interesting to hear that aspect of today’s debate.
It recognises that through the play experience of children, both offline and online, it has an impact on the lives of millions of children that it engages with around the world, and it recognises the responsibility to ensure that, wherever it engages with them, the impact is positive and that it protects and upholds the rights of children and fosters their well-being as part of its mission.
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We have heard about UN general comment 25 on children’s rights in the digital environment. The Government’s response to the drafting process recognised the collective responsibility of all Governments and stakeholders to ensure
“that children can benefit from digital opportunities, and protecting them from online harms”.
In line with this, the Bill now offers the opportunity to require regulated services to not only mitigate and manage risk in their service design but to consider the benefits of the service to children’s rights and well-being. I am extending it rather further than some of the earlier discussions.
I agree that it is important to include reference to both rights and well-being in the Bill. An individual child may have low well-being even if all their rights are respected. For example, if a child does not feel socially connected or empowered in a positive online environment, they may experience low well-being even if their right to participate online is being respected. As drafted, the Bill instructs regulated services to have regard
“to the importance of protecting the rights of users and interested persons”
and give due consideration to benefits such as freedom of expression
“when deciding on, and implementing, safety measures and policies”
to comply with the regime.
I believe that, if the Bill is to fully deliver for children, it needs to ensure that there is consideration of the benefits of the service to children’s rights and well-being. Without this inclusion, there is a risk that the design of online services will disproportionately restrict children’s rights to participate in the online environment and the benefit it brings to their well-being. By instructing service providers to design for the benefits that technology can bring to children’s rights and well-being alongside the mitigation of risk, which we have heard so much about, we have a real opportunity in the Bill to create a blueprint for the online environment that can both protect and nurture children’s potential by supporting and empowering them, unleashing their creativity and helping them learn. We have heard many positive comments around the House on that. I hope the Minister will understand the clear intention here and take on board the positive intent of these amendments.
Briefly, many noble Lords have emphasised the importance of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I am not going to add greatly to that debate, but children have a right to be safe and to privacy. They also have rights to information and participation in free speech, both online and offline. It was very interesting to hear, in particular from the noble Baroness, Lady Healy, and the noble Lord, Lord Russell, about their view that services may shut children out of digital spaces altogether to avoid compliance with the child safety duties, rather than designing services with their safety in mind. That is because the Bill focuses on content moderation rather than system design: we are back, in a sense, into that loop.
I believe that the reference to the UNCRC general comment 25 would be very useful. I understand the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Weir, and certainly
the spirit in which he made them, but I cannot see why “having regard to” the UNCRC could not be in the Bill. I do not see that that is unduly prescriptive or difficult to interpret in those circumstances, or overly vague. So, on these Benches, we support those amendments.