Political Monitor 05/06/2020

5 June 2020

Broadband

DCMS Questions on broadband

During oral questions to DCMS Minister Mark Pritchard MP (Con) asked what steps are being taken to ensure competition between broadband providers. He noted the resilience in the data networks but pressed Government on what they are doing to ensure people aren’t left without connectivity when mobile networks have failed in recent months. Digital and Broadband Minister, Matt Warman MP noted the wayleaves legislation seeking to remove barriers for providers rolling out networks, with “more than 80 network operators now deploying fibre across the UK”. Regarding resilience, Warman praised the networks for keeping the country connected, and highlighted initiatives such as the shared rural network to improve mobile connectivity.

BSG report into international experiences of barriers to gigabit adoption

The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) has published a report by WIK-Consult that seeks to find international learnings on barriers to the UK’s rollout of gigabit networks. The report found:

• Governments need to support take-up by incentivising new connections and addressing affordability.
• Improve advertising and customer communications to widen understanding of the benefits of gigabit services.
• Leverage digitisation to support the economy and society in a post COVID-19 era
• Facilitate eventual switch-off of the legacy copper network by securing buy-in from all relevant broadband industry stakeholders.

Wayleaves Bill reaches Lords Committee Stage

The Telecoms Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill has continued its passage through the House of Lords with a second day of Committee debate this week. Concerns raised about the narrow nature of the Bill were voiced by opposition peers, Lord Clement Jones stating it was a “grudging Bill not an enabling Bill”, and Lord Fox stating it was “mysteriously cautious”. Points and amendments considered by the Peers included:

• Lord Clement Jones (LD) amendment seeking to restrict the scope of compensation required for damages, due to concerns that “these compensation requirements are drawn so widely so they could be a disincentive to an operator to lay fibre to a home or MDU”.
  • DCMS Minister Baroness Barran stated that this directly replicated language from the Electronic Communications Code and that to change it would bring about confusion. She stated that the Government had “worked very hard” to ensure a balance of interests through this legislation. The amendment was withdrawn.
• Lord Blencathra (Con) called for Government to introduce a measure to compel ISPs to deliver a minimum speed that was available 24/7

Cyber Security

Defence Committee session on Security of 5G

The Defence Sub-Committee opened two sessions of its inquiry into the security of 5G hearing from Senator Tom Cotton, Brigadier General Robert Spalding of the Hudson Institute and Mike Rogers of 5G Action Now about the geopolitics of 5G.

Arkansas Senator Cotton spoke in a personal capacity but stated he saw a lot of scope for greater cooperation and leadership between the US and UK, including supporting technology companies to challenge the likes of Huawei. He noted that as 5G would be used to connect machines and systems, it made the risk of having suspect organisations involved was even greater and explained that funding was being put into replacing Chinese technology in American telecommunications networks. He urged the UK to reduce the exposure of its networks to Huawei in a tighter timeframe than the current 2023 target.

Online harms

DCMS Questions

This week, MPs posed oral questions concerning the Online Harms Bill to DCMS secretary Oliver Dowden MP. Dowden assured MPs that he remained committed to the Bill and that the Government would publish a full response to the White Paper later this year, with the Bill likely to be introduced later in this Session. MPs were hopeful that the legislation date be brought forward, and Dowden replied that on a daily basis, he was taking the decisions necessary to ensure we bring forward the response to the White Paper and then the Bill itself. As for the age appropriate design code, Dowden said that he was taking the necessary steps to lay the code, in time for the Bill to be introduced within the year.

DCMS Committee hears evidence from social media giants

During a session of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Sub-committee on Online Harms and Disinformation, MPs heard from representatives from Facebook, YouTube, Google and Twitter. Questions from MPs touched on the role of Algorithms and misinformation and End-to-end encryption. Some key findings were as follows

• YouTube has created “info panels” based on the WHO or national authority advice as a way of reducing misleading public health material.
• Facebook has 35,000 staff working on safety and security. Half of these are content reviewers. There is also the “integrity engineering team”, which built the mechanics for reporting content and finding content.
• According to Facebook, when people saw labels flagging misinformation or unreliable content, 95% of people did not continue to view it.

Home Affairs Committee hear evidence on online harms

The Home Affairs Committee heard evidence on online harms this week, hearing from Susie Hargreaves of the IWF as well as Rob Jones from the National Crime Agency (NCA). The session was part of the Committee’s inquiry into the Home Office’s preparedness for COVID-19.  Hargreaves noted that the time lag between images being taken and making their way onto the internet meant there was likely to be a rise in self-generated content in the months ahead.

There was also a discussion around Facebook’s plans for end-to-end encryption, with both NCA representatives voicing concerns around Facebook’s plans. Jones said that he was yet to see anything publicly from Facebook which describes their position in terms of mitigating that risk. Hargreaves similarly said that while the IWF works closely with Facebook, assurances were needed that child protection will not be hampered.

Dowden letter to DCMS Committee on misinformation around 5G

In a letter to the DCMS committee, Oliver Dowden MP addressed misinformation surrounding 5G.  The Secretary of State for DCMS condoned the vandalism and fire damage to telecoms infrastructure sites across the UK, as well as the abuse and harassment of telecommunications field engineer s- the product of conspiracy theories linking 5G to coronavirus. Mr Dowden also acknowledged NHS and emergency responder’s reliance on mobile phone masts at this difficult time.

The Government has issued firm rebuttals on social media and at press briefings and supports the strong statement from the mobile network operators on the importance of protecting critical infrastructure. Dowden assured the Committee that the counter-disinformation unit was continuing to monitor and work closely with social media platforms to help them identify and take action to remove dangerous, incorrect claims that link 5G to the virus. A roundtable meeting with social media platforms in April had resulted in some major steps towards reducing misinformation.

Letter from Caroline Dinenage MP to Home Affairs Committee on harmful content

Caroline Dinenage MP, Minister for Digital and Culture wrote to Yvette Cooper MP to provide further details on closed groups, enforcement, algorithms and fact checking.

The minister for Digital and Culture was sympathetic towards concerns over closed groups and referred to the Online Harms White Paper (OHWP). She stated that users should be protected from harmful content or behaviour wherever it occurs online, and criminals should not be able to exploit the online space to conduct illegal activity in either private or public areas. Dinenage cited the new online harms regulatory framework that will set out expectations for companies to counter harmful activity or content, depending on the nature of the harm, the risk, and the resources and technology available to them.