Speeches by Kendall.

“Yes. As I said, under the Online Safety Act we already have powers to fine companies up to 10% of their qualifying worldwide revenue and, should companies repeatedly refuse to obey the law, Ofcom can apply to the courts to block their services. We have not finalised the fines and consequences, but what I have said show…”

“I absolutely agree that this is not a one-and-done; we have got to do more. The tech companies need to abide by our law in our land: the Online Safety Act. My hon. Friend is a powerful champion for her constituents. I want to avoid that cliff edge, and I want to take further action on restricting features and functions…”

“It is not an either/or—either enforce the Online Safety Act or introduce a ban. There are clear requirements on tech companies to remove illegal content for everybody and harmful content for children, and we will continue to enforce them. Just because we know children will try to get around these measures does not mean…”

“My hon. Friend is right to say that what I have announced today is not a silver bullet for all these challenges; I am setting out what we can do specifically on the online world, but the truth is that we have to provide that wider support. As always, I am very happy to talk to her about what more we can do across Gover…”

“Alongside the matter of supporting young people who might like things or live or love in a different way, another thing that I am really concerned about is the question of how they actually connect with people—that trusted support is really important. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working hard to boost…”

“There is a process that we normally go through when regulations are laid, and there is a certain amount of time for parliamentary scrutiny. I am trying to balance giving Members a say on the regulations—looking at them, and ensuring that we have got them right and that they are going to work—with cracking on as soon as…”

“We have not set any targets or goals. I do think that more highly effective age verification measures will make a difference. As I said—I want to be honest—this is about today’s children, but it is even more about resetting the expectations and cultural norms of children growing up now so that kids will know they will …”

“As I said, I will make a further statement to the House in July, which will include issues such as raising the digital age of consent, so that we have greater protections around the use of children’s data. That is an important issue. Privacy must be at the heart of this measure, because many parents and young people ar…”

“First, kids are savvy; social media has been an integral part of their lives, and they want to get around restrictions. I will be careful what I say this time, but just because children try to get around things does not mean that we do not have rules and boundaries. Secondly, we are trying to learn the lessons from Aus…”

“We had a specific survey and consultation with children, 14,000 of whom replied, and I personally met young people in many constituencies. I understand why people say that responsibility should be put on to the companies—that they have got to keep their products safe, and that if they do not, they should not be able to…”

“We will bring in highly effective age-verification measures, because we want to ensure that we learn the lessons from what has happened in Australia. The Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan), who has responsibility for online…”

“I agree with every single word my hon. Friend says. This is about liberating children from what can sometimes be a terribly oppressive life online. It is about helping parents to do what they want. They have faced a tidal wave of stuff that they have been trying to fight off. We are just saying, “We want to back you to…”

“As the hon. Lady knows, the Prime Minister said that we want to act on devices to stop children taking, viewing or sharing nude images. What we are talking about today is highly effective age-verification measures on social media platforms. Sometimes when we debate this issue in the House it is a question of either/or,…”

“First, young people can still go online. I think that this announcement will actually support news organisations—the BBC, Sky and all sorts of others—to do even more to provide news information, perhaps created by children for children, in an appropriate and effective manner. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Creat…”

“Absolutely. This is about the social media companies putting their house in order. Lots of people have said, “Won’t you bow to pressure? You’ll cave under it.” I hope that today, we are showing our intention: we want a better life for children; we want to put power into parents’ hands; and we want to reset social norms…”

“That has been a really important question; researchers have raised being able to assess the impact and know what the social media companies know themselves, so that they can better scrutinise and assess the evidence. I hope we will be doing more on that soon.”

“We have asked for the rapid review of highly effective age-assurance measures, so that they come in well before the regulations are laid and voted on in the House, and Members can look at and question them and absolutely make sure they are going to work. I will write to the right hon. and learned Member about his other…”

“rose—”

“Yes, our list of exemptions is precisely so that we do not capture those educational resources. I have seen in my own constituency how those brilliant things can help young people learn and get on, and narrow the disadvantage gap between rich and poor kids, so I really want to make sure they are exempt.”

“I am glad that my hon. Friend believes his constituents will support this action. The Minister for Online Safety spent a week in Australia learning the lessons, including about how kids are getting around the ban. That is why we have already said that we want more highly effective age-assurance measures. I will come ba…”