Written questions by Pritchard.

Innovation and Technology, what plans she has to ensure the safety of products sold online.

Awaiting answer.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure continued funding for astronomical and space science research.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has committed a record £58.5 billion investment in R&D over the next 4 years. This includes £38.6 billion allocated to UKRI.The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) within UKRI is maintaining its budget across this period and is currently working with the sector to model different spending scenarios for its portfolio in particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics (PPAN). The impacts of different modelled scenarios across the broad and diverse range of STFC-funded facilities and programmes will be considered alongside feedback from the sector when taking final decisions.The UK will also continue to invest in collaborative space science through the UK Space Agency, which has been allocated £2.8 billion over the next 4 years.DSIT has asked UKRI to ensure that its specific investment decisions are informed by meaningful consultation with the scientific research community and a robust assessment of potential consequences for the UK’s scientific capability, research institutions and international standing.

Innovation and Technology, whether she plans to prioritise sight-loss conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, within (a) UK Research and Innovation's and (b) the Advanced Research and Invention Agency’s future biomedical research programmes.

The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), funds research into vision loss, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), through a range of schemes. This research spans discovery science and fundamental mechanistic understanding, through to new approaches for diagnosis and intervention. For example, MRC has committed over £4 million to Kings College University for a clinical trial to establish safety and efficacy of photoreceptor transplantation in retinal degeneration and AMD patients as a potential treatment of the condition.The Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) has maximum autonomy over its research and project choice, and allocation of funding to research projects and different sectors will be decided by those with relevant technical expertise. ARIA has made nearly £530 million in funding available across its first 10 programmes, which includes biomedical research.

Innovation and Technology, whether he has plans to expand the use of satellite technology to improve rural mobile phone (a) connectivity and (b) coverage.

Satellite connectivity can complement the coverage provided by terrestrial mobile networks. Mobile network operators have already for example, used satellite services to provide backhaul to some Shared Rural Network sites where it is challenging to provide traditional fibre or microwave backhaul, and to increase network resilience. Many modern handsets already have text-based emergency satellite connectivity.Ofcom recently consulted on proposals to authorise Direct to Device satellite services in certain mobile spectrum bands in the UK. These proposals could enable people to make satellite calls from their mobile phones, which may extend coverage to the most remote areas. This consultation is an important step towards enabling these services.

Innovation and Technology, if he will make it her policy to abolish Ofcom if its code of conduct for technology companies does not improve children's online safety.

The government is clear that we expect significant improvements in children's online safety as platforms comply with their duties under the Online Safety Act.Ofcom's child safety codes include over 40 measures to hold platforms accountable, ensuring safer social media with less harmful content, protection from strangers, and effective age checks.Ofcom are clear that they will take strong enforcement action if companies do not take the necessary steps protect children. Where we need to strengthen the law to protect children online, we will do so.

Innovation and Technology, if he will commission research into (a) the types of (i) messages and (ii) videos promoted by TikTok to UK children and teenage users and (b) the role of promoting such content by malign state actors .

Child online safety is of the utmost importance to the government. Under the Online Safety Act, user-to-user services likely to be accessed by children must protect them from harmful content. Ofcom’s draft codes of practice include recommendations for services to meet these duties, including ensuring that algorithms do not target children with harmful content.Any attempt by malign state actors to interfere in the UK’s information environment is unacceptable. The Foreign Interference Offence is a priority offence in the Online Safety Act, it requires all in-scope companies to take action against a range of state-linked disinformation and interference online.

Innovation and Technology, if he will implement stronger penalties for creating non-consensual deepfake content.

Government is committed to tackling the harm posed by the creation of non-consensual intimate images. We are bringing forward legislation to criminalise this behaviour in the Data (Use and Access) Bill. The new legislation will ensure that offenders face the appropriate punishments for this atrocious harm.The sharing of or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is already a criminal offence under the Online Safety Act and was designated as a priority offence in November 2024. Companies in scope of the Act’s illegal safety duties will be required to proactively tackle this type of content, preventing its proliferation online.

Innovation and Technology, if he will ensure that law enforcement agencies have sufficient resources and training to identify and prosecute creators of non-consensual deepfake content.

Non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes are degrading and harmful. We refuse to tolerate the violence against women and girls that stains our society, which is why we’ve brought forward legislation in the Data (Use and Access) Bill to ban their creation as quickly as possible.The Home Office is funding the police to detect and remove illegal deepfake images and are working closely with them to improve officers understanding of this emerging threat.

Innovation and Technology, when he expects the report of the Independent Pornography Review to be published.

The Independent Pornography Review assesses the effectiveness of current pornography legislation, regulation, and enforcement. It is an important area of interest for this government. The Review has now just concluded. The government is assessing its findings and the final report will be published in due course.

Innovation and Technology, if he will publish an annual list of (a) social media companies and (b) search services sanctioned for failing to prevent pre-teen access to pornography including details of those sanctions.

Under the Online Safety Act, publishers of pornography online and user-to-user services that allow sharing of pornographic content have a duty to use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing this.The Act requires Ofcom to produce and publish a report on in-scope services’ use of age assurance solutions, within eighteen months of these duties coming into force.Ofcom has set out in its guidance on enforcement. This guidance includes the information Ofcom will generally publish when opening an investigation, including the identity of the subject and scope of the investigation.

Innovation and Technology, if he will take steps to prevent social media companies adjusting network algorithms to promote actions by users (a) favouring political (i) candidates and (ii) outcomes and (b) who are

The Online Safety Act gives platforms duties to tackle illegal content. The regulator, Ofcom, has outlined steps providers can take to fulfil these duties in codes of practice, including recommending steps for stopping illegal foreign interference and ter...

Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of reliance on Starlink in the (a) private and (b) public sectors; what steps he is taking to help increase

The government acknowledges rapid evolutions in the global satellite communications sector. Monopoly rarely serves the public interest and a competitive market is important to ensuring public and private sector value. We are keen to secure UK leadership i...

Innovation and Technology, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce fines for social media companies for failure to remove online material which incites violence.

The Online Safety Act 2023 places duties on user to user services to proactively mitigate the risk that their services are used for illegal activity or to share illegal content. This includes content that incites violence and content which stirs up religious or racial hatred. The Act is currently being implemented. Ofcom will have a broad range of powers to assess and enforce compliance with the Act, including issuing fines to services that do not comply of up to £18m or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue in the relevant year, whichever is higher.