Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to tackle online abuse and harassment targeted at women on (a) social media networks, (b) Facebook and (c) Twitter.

Sarah Newton

We expect social media companies, and internet platforms, to have robust processes in place and to act promptly when abuse is reported, this includes acting quickly to remove inappropriate content, and where appropriate, suspending or terminating the accounts of those breaching the rules in place. The Government continues to work closely with social media companies and other relevant actors and experts to make sure they are committed to protecting those who use their platforms.

The Criminal Justice Act 2015 strengthened two existing communications offences: section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, and section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 which can now be used to prosecute misuse of social media. The police now have longer to investigate either offence, and the maximum penalty for the former has been increased to two years imprisonment.