My Lords, in introducing this group, I will speak directly to the three amendments in my name—Amendments 46, 47 and 64. I will also make some general remarks about the issue of freedom of speech and of expression, which is the theme of this group. I will come to these in a moment.
The noble Lord, Lord McNally, said earlier that I had taken my amendments out of a different group— I hope from my introductory remarks that it will be clear why—but, in doing so, I did not realise that I would end up opening on this group. I offer my apologies to the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, for usurping his position in getting us started.
I am grateful to the noble Baronesses, Lady Bull and Lady Featherstone, for adding their names. The amendments represent the position of the Communications and Digital Select Committee of your Lordships’ House. In proposing them, I do so with that authority. My co-signatories are a recent and a current member. I should add sincere apologies from the noble Baroness, Lady Featherstone, for not being here this evening. If she is watching, I send her my very best wishes.
When my noble friend Lord Gilbert of Panteg was its chair, the committee carried out an inquiry into freedom of speech online. This has already been remarked on this evening. At part of that inquiry, the committee concluded that the Government’s proposals in the then draft Bill—which may have just been a White Paper at that time—for content described as legal but harmful were detrimental to freedom of speech. It called for changes. Since then, as we know, the Government have dropped legal but harmful and instead introduced new user empowerment tools for adults to filter out harmful content. As we heard in earlier groups this evening, these would allow people to turn off or on content about subjects such as eating disorders and self-harm.
Some members of our committee might favour enhanced protection for adults. Indeed, some of my colleagues have already spoken in support of amendments to this end in other groups. Earlier this year, when the committee looked at the Bill as it had been reintroduced to Parliament, we agreed that, as things stood, these
new user empowerment tools were a threat to freedom of speech. Whatever one’s views, there is no way of judging their impact or effectiveness—whether good or bad.
As we have heard already this evening, the Government have dropped the requirement for platforms to provide a public risk assessment of how these tools would work and their impact on freedom of speech. To be clear, for these user empowerment tools to be effective, the platforms will have to identify the content that users can switch off. This gives the platforms great power over what is deemed harmful to adults. Amendments 46, 47 and 64 are about ensuring that tech platforms are transparent about how they balance the principles of privacy, safety and freedom of speech for adults. These amendments would require platforms to undertake a risk assessment and publish a summary in their terms of service. This would involve them being clear about the effect of user empowerment tools on the users’ freedom of expression. Without such assessments, there is a risk that platforms would do either too much or too little. It would be very difficult to find out how they are filtering content and on what basis, and how they are addressing the twin imperatives of ensuring online safety without unduly affecting free speech.
To be clear, these amendments, unlike amendments in earlier groups, are neither about seeking to provide greater protection to adults nor about trying to reopen or revisit the question of legal but harmful. They are about ensuring transparency to give all users confidence about how platforms are striking the right balance. While their purpose is to safeguard freedom of speech, they would also bring benefits to those adults who wanted to opt in to the user empowerment tool because they would be able to assess what it was they were choosing not to see.
It is because of their twin benefits—indeed, their benefit to everyone—that we decided formally, as a committee, to recommend these amendments to the Government and for debate by your Lordships’ House. That said, the debate earlier suggests support for a different approach to enhancing protection for adults, and we may discover through this debate a preference for other amendments in this group to protect freedom of speech—but that is why we have brought these amendments forward.
8.45 pm
I am now going to take off my Select Committee hat to say a few other remarks about freedom of expression—but I will not say very much, because I have the privilege of responding at the end. Indeed, there are noble Lords in the Chamber this evening who are far more steeped in this important principle of freedom of speech than me. I am keen to listen to what they have to say in order to judge to which of their amendments, if any, I will lend my support.
I should add that, perhaps unlike some other noble Lords who will speak on this group, I am about freedom of speech less as an end in itself and more as a means to a thriving democracy and healthy society. I have said on various public platforms over the last few months that I would have preferred the Bill to be about only child safety, so that we could learn before deciding what, if any, further steps to take—but we are where we are. What concerns me about the online world
we now inhabit is in whose hands the power exists to decide what we get to see and debate. Who has the power to influence what is an acceptable opinion to hold? Who has the power to shape society, to such an extent that they can influence and change what we believe is right or wrong?
There is a real dilemma for me between the big tech platforms’ resistance to the responsibility that comes with being a publisher and us giving them that power and responsibility via the Bill. We will come back to the question of power and how we ensure that it is spread properly between Parliament, the Executive, the regulator and media platforms in a later group but, as we have decided to legislate for online safety, I want us to be as sure as we can be that we are not giving away political powers to individuals or institutions who have no democratic mandate or are not subject to suitable oversight. Freedom of speech and the clauses to which the amendments relate is why this is an important group.
I will make one final point before I sit down. Freedom of speech is also a critical element of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. That is why I have been so concerned that it was introduced alongside online safety. I am glad that it has finally arrived in Parliament and that we will get to examine it before too long. But that is for another day—for now, I beg to move.