Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, the Scottish Labour MP for the Livingston Constituency and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Children’s Online Safety warned that platforms must not be allowed to exploit legal loopholes to avoid responsibility for tackling online harms.
Mr Poynton praised the Act as a “landmark piece of legislation” with the potential to transform online safety but raised concerns about how it will be enforced. He called for Ofcom to ensure that tech firms are genuinely committed to protecting children, rather than simply doing the bare minimum to meet compliance standards.
“One of the most pressing issues raised by experts, including the Internet Watch Foundation, is the interpretation of 'legally feasible' in Ofcom's illegal harms codes,” said Mr Poynton. “While the act requires platforms to take steps to remove illegal content, the code suggests that services are only obliged to do so when it's deemed technically feasible. This could lead to situations where platforms, rather than taking proactive steps to safeguard users, simply opt out of finding innovative solutions to prevent harm.”
Highlighting the vast resources available to tech giants, Mr Poynton insisted they must be held accountable for keeping children safe online.
“These are the same platforms who have spent billions of pounds in R&D [Research and Development] developing highly sophisticated algorithms to solve complex technical problems, effectively targeting ads to drive revenue and serve content to audiences that they want to see. They have the tools, they have the people, and they have the budgets to solve these problems.”
Mr Poynton also warned about the risks of companies exploiting the Act’s safe harbour provisions, which could allow them to appear compliant without addressing the root causes of online harm. “As the Internet Watch Foundation has rightly pointed out, this risks leaving platforms operating in a way which is compliant on paper but ineffective in practice.”
Calling for urgent action, Mr Poynton also pressed Ofcom to use its influence over tech firms such as Apple and Google to strengthen child protection measures, particularly around age verification. Additionally, he raised concerns about the limited oversight of private communications, warning that encrypted messaging services must not become “safe havens for criminals.”
He concluded by urging the government, Ofcom, and tech firms to keep child safety at the forefront of online regulation. “We must ensure that platforms are incentivised to go beyond the bare minimum and truly innovate to protect our children.”
The Online Safety Act aims to increase user safety online, tackle illegal content, and improve public understanding of digital harms. However, Mr Poynton’s intervention in Parliament highlights growing concerns that unless robustly enforced by the regulator Ofcom, the legislation could fail to deliver on its promise to create a safer internet for children.