incite, encourage, provoke or assist serious self-harm, and
A
bill
to
Require OFCOM to establish a unit to advise the Secretary of State regarding the use of social media platforms to encourage or assist serious self-harm and activities associated with risk of suicide; and for connected purposes.
B e it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
OFCOM must establish a unit to advise the Secretary of State for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport regarding—
the extent of content on social media platforms which could be seen
to—
incite, encourage, provoke or assist serious self-harm, and
incite, encourage, provoke or assist activities associated with
the pursuance of suicidal ideation and associated activities,
the effectiveness of current regulation in addressing the content
described in paragraph (a), and
recommendations for changes in regulation regarding the use of social
media platforms in order to increase efficacy of prevention of serious
self-harm and the prevention of suicide.
The unit must also advise the Secretary of State regarding the use of search
engines to access to the content described in subsection (1)(a).
Content on social media platforms could be seen to incite, encourage, provoke
or assist serious self-harm, or incite, encourage, provoke or assist activities
associated with the pursuance of suicidal ideation and associated activities,
if it is a communication which is sent or posted by a person (A) to an
individual or to a group of individuals (whether or not the individual or
group of individuals is a specific person, group of persons, or class of persons
known to or identified by A), and it—
intentionally incites, encourages, provokes or assists an individual or
group of individuals to cause themselves serious physical harm, or
intentionally incites, encourages or provokes suicidal ideation, or assists
activities associated with the pursuance of suicidal ideation or
associated activities, in an individual or group of individuals,
and is sent or posted with malicious intent and without reasonable excuse,
whether or not serious physical harm occurs in consequence.
In this Act—
“social media platforms” include platforms providing user-to-user
services;
“physical harm” is serious if it would amount to grievous bodily harm
under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861;
“reasonable excuse”, for the purposes of section 2, includes—
the sharing of content for the sole purpose of self-expression,
provision of social support to counter risk factors with the
intention of decreasing the risk of serious self-harm or suicide,
seeking social support by a person at risk of serious self-harm
or suicide,
activities consistent with national evidence-based approaches
to the prevention of serious self-harm or suicide.
This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This Act comes into force on the day on which it is passed.
This Act may be cited as the OFCOM (Duty regarding Prevention of Serious
Self-harm and Suicide) 2022.
A
bill
to
Require OFCOM to establish a unit to advise the Secretary of State regarding the use of social media platforms to encourage or assist serious self-harm and activities associated with risk of suicide; and for connected purposes.
Ordered to be Printed, .
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