Speeches by McEvoy.

“Is cyber risk arguably AI neutral because while the risk goes up so does the technology to mitigate against the risk? The issue that we have is about whether the investment is going in at the same level to risk-creating technologies as it is to risk-protecting and mitigating technologies? Are you confident then in your…”

“I do think it would be difficult in this instance. Given that you have so many different models and there are emerging models and greater competition, I think it would be difficult to make that strategy be effective.”

“That is interesting. Can you tell us about a few more scenarios for a bit of colour for the Committee? What sort of vulnerabilities are we talking about? Give us some scenarios of where we could be at greater risk from cybersecurity threats.”

“Mr Luther, did you have anything to add on that point—cybersecurity and what effects you can envisage generative AI specifically having on cybersecurity threats?”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that the sheer volume of parking tickets could be having an impact on people’s desire to visit our high streets and town centres, as they worry about parking without getting fined?”

“In Darlington, there are car parks with no signal, so people have to go outside to download the app, log into it and then pay for their parking, by which point they have often incurred a charge. Does my hon. Friend agree that in our code, we should include the provision of multiple payment methods in every car park?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. The issue we are addressing today is symptomatic of a country where people who have done everything right are being burdened and bullied by a system that is weighted against them. I want to use this debate to tell the stories of some of my constituents in Da…”

“On the appeals process, constituents across the country are attending court to find that their hearing has been cancelled by the company at the last minute. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that is a waste of their time and a waste of the court’s time?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“On that point, my understanding of the new regulations for the platforms is that they have to block them in this country if what they are doing is illegal in this country. Even if the prosecutions are more complicated because they are based elsewhere, the platforms still have to block them to protect UK citizens becaus…”

“May I probe a bit further on that? If somebody starts a new account, they do not have any followers, so surely there is a way for the online platforms or somebody to track how they are getting overnight followers. It could be through the ad regime—Meta’s ad regime—or the ad libraries that you described, or through whoe…”

“I am interested because I would like to know how, so I can raise that with the companies.”

“It could also be bot followers. That is what I am getting at.”

“In your current guidelines around giving financial advice, there is a “know your client” section. Is there a possibility that finfluencers, who are broadcasting to a mass audience who they absolutely do not know, would all be in breach of that? How would a finfluencer who is mass-marketing their product be able to sati…”

“I want to probe a little deeper into the difference between the models. There is the subscriber model, which is for courses—people part with a certain amount of money every month to get advice, which, as you said, is often not legitimate advice—and then there is the “copy my trades for free” model. From your work, can …”

“I am interested in how well you think that Ofcom’s reading of the Online Safety Act will serve the problem that you are describing. In the Act, fraud is highlighted as one of the illegal harms that platforms must mitigate against. There is a difference between some of the things that we are describing and the narrow de…”

“My experience so far of Ofcom’s relationship with the Online Safety Act, and with how the companies and platforms are reading it, is that it has to be included in the Ofcom guidance. Ofcom are there to interpret the law as guidance for these platforms, so we need to build out Ofcom’s interpretation of the Act to includ…”

“Just to be clear then, we have established that those two things that you have explained are breaking the law. On the category of fraud and the action that Ofcom are taking to prevent fraud online, do you think the fraud category is broad enough to incorporate the two things that you described?”

“On the online platforms, there is obviously the illegal harm of posing as something and taking money from somebody when you have absolutely no intention of doing what you are saying that you are doing, which is fraud. There is that side of the problem. When you are reporting things to them and they are taking six weeks…”

“I am trying to get an understanding of the scale of the problem.”