At Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Questions on 26th May, senior Conservative MP John Whittingdale MP asked a topical question on when clauses will be brought forward to further protections for legitimate journalism in the Online Safety Bill, and if these will cover specialist news publishers.

To this, Minister Chris Philp MP noted that noted that Clause 50 of the Online Safety Bill ‘already exempts recognised news publishers from the provisions; of the Bill and that Clause 16 provides ‘particular exemptions for content of journalistic importance’.

Philp also commented on commitments made on the Bill’s Second Reading and said the Department ‘will be going further to provide a right of appeal in relation to journalistic content’. Philp further added that ‘work is going on to deliver that commitment right now, and that [the Department] will be bringing forward news as soon as we can’.

Whittingdale’s question follows a similar query in the Bill’s Second Reading Debate. Last year, the Joint Committee of Lords and MPs which scrutinised the Draft Bill stated: ‘We are concerned that some consumer and business magazines, and academic journals, may not be covered by the Clause 40 exemptions. We recommend that the Department consult with the relevant industry bodies to see how the exemption might be amended to cover this of, without creating loopholes in the legislation.’ As of yet, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has failed to commit to extend protections for ‘recognised news publishers’ to independently regulated specialist titles.