The Online Safety Bill has been delayed for a second time in four months despite assurances that it would return in the Autumn. According to TechCrunch, a source in the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that the latest delay is to allow time for MPs to read the latest amendments (yet to be laid), confirmed by Michelle Donelan last month. Meanwhile, PoliticsHome and The Guardian report the delay to the proposed legislation is due to the change of prime minister. A Twitter post by Dr Monica Horten's account @Iptegrity suggests the Bill was "pulled late on Wednesday without any apparent reason being given."
The Bill was due to have its third reading in the Commons on Tuesday, 1 November but has since been dropped from Commons business. The third reading is the final opportunity for the Commons to debate the contents of a Bill, which typically occurs immediately after the report stage before it is sent to the House of Lords.
Not everyone is disappointed with the news; Open Rights Group executive director Jim Killock told The Guardian (see link above) that the delay represents an opportunity for a "complete rethink".
What is this page?
You are reading a summary article on the Privacy Newsfeed, a free resource for DPOs and other professionals with privacy or data protection responsibilities helping them stay informed of industry news all in one place. The information here is a brief snippet relating to a single piece of original content or several articles about a common topic or thread. The main contributor is listed in the top left-hand corner, just beneath the article title.
The Privacy Newsfeed monitors over 300 global publications, of which more than 5,750 summary articles have been posted to the online archive dating back to the beginning of 2020. A weekly roundup is available by email every Friday.