I will plant a flag in reference to the new offences, which I know we will come back to again. It is always helpful to look at real-world examples. There is a lot of meme-based self-harm content. Two examples are the Tide Pods challenge—the eating of detergent capsules—and choking games, both of which have been very common and widespread. It would be helpful, ahead of our debate on the new offences, to understand whether they are below or above the threshold of serious self-harm and what the Government’s intention is. There are arguments both ways: obviously, criminalising children for being foolish carries certain consequences, but we also want to stop the spread of the content. So, when we come to that offence, it would be helpful if the Minister could use specific examples, such as the meme-based self-harm content, which is quite common.
Online Safety Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Allan of Hallam
(Liberal Democrat)
in the House of Lords on Tuesday, 16 May 2023.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Online Safety Bill.
About this proceeding contribution
Reference
830 c187 Session
2022-23Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamberSubjects
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2023-10-05 21:09:45 +0100
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