Agenda item

Report of the Chief Legal Officer

The Ethics Committee considered a report of the Chief Legal Officer which indicated that the Committee has been keeping a watching brief on the programme of work coordinated by the LGA entitled “Civility in Public Life”.  This work is in response to the increasing concern about intimidation and toxicity of debate and the impact this has been having on democratic processes.

Related to these topics, in February 2022, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) issued a press release, entitled: “New plans to protect people from anonymous trolls online”.  In summary, the Government have made additions to the Online Safety Bill to give Social Media users more control over what they see online and who can interact with them in an effort to fight against anonymous “trolls”.

The report indicated that on 19 April 2023, the Local Government Association (LGA) issued a press release (a copy of which was appended to the report)  calling on the Government to amend the Online Safety Bill to include stronger provisions to protect councillors from online abuse.

The Bill is currently passing through the House of Lords and the LGA has said that stronger provisions are needed amid an increase in online intimidation that has the potential to dissuade members of the public from becoming Councillors. The LGA has recommended that the Bill include provisions to manage internet abuse levelled at Councillors that fall below the criminal threshold and assurances from the Government that the democratic and journalistic protections set out in the bill "will not inadvertently protect perpetrators of abuse".

The LGA commented that: "Councillors are experiencing increasing levels of online intimidation, abuse and threats made against them, which can prevent Elected Members from representing the communities they serve and undermine public trust in democratic processes. We hope this bill will go some way in addressing the concerns we have heard from our membership … However, we regret the removal of the harm-based communications offence by the Government at Committee stage in the Commons, which could have been an important tool in tackling this intimidation, harassment and abuse."

The LGA have confirmed that they support the overall aims of the Bill and "broadly welcome" the new threatening and false communication offences set out in the Bill, as well as the user empowerment and verification duty that will enable users to control what content and users they interact with.

The Committee expressed their extreme concern regarding the significant increase in abuse and intimidation faced by Councillors over the last few years. The local position was noted, particularly in relation to the help, support and guidance provided to Councillors, both from the City Council and West Midlands Police, which was welcomed.  

RESOLVED that the Ethics Committee:-

1. Notes and supports the position of the Local Government Association on the Online Safety Bill; and

2.  Requests that, in light of the Committee’s concerns in relation to this issue, that this item continues to be reviewed alongside the ongoing work around Civility in Public Life and Digital Citizenship.