Labour's tech priorities: boost safety and connectivity

The Shadow Digital Secretary criticised the Government for delaying the Online Safety Bill once again

Labour's digital strategy for the nation focuses on making the most of the digital era "for the many, not the few," and to establish "a new settlement" where power, money, and opportunities are distributed more evenly throughout the economy.

That's according to Shadow Digital Secretary Lucy Powell, who was speaking at the UK Internet Governance Forum on Tuesday.

Powell said her party would look at ways to modernise the UK's "analogue regulation for the digital age," to rebalance power between citizens and digital platforms.

Labour is far from the first group to address Big Tech's power. Just this week the EU brought in the Digital Markets Act, which means tech firms will no longer be able to force people to use their own services like the Chrome browser on Android, or App Store on iOS.

The Conservatives, too, have often talked about redressing the balance between citizens and tech firms, but solutions have failed to materialise - even after 12 years in power.

Powell said Labour's plans for the digital industry would concentrate on limiting the dominance of the tech giants, increasing connectivity throughout the UK, and making the internet safer.

"The promise of the digital age was meant to break down barriers, spread and share knowledge, and join up the whole world with the opportunities this presents, but in many ways it has done the opposite," Powell said.

"So far, the digital era has been marked by a concentration of power, data and influence in the hands of tech giants and their new monopoly, with huge power over what we buy, how we live, and indeed what we think."

Powell noted that Labour wants British enterprises to dominate the global race for tech and digital innovations, but in order to win the race, "players need to know the rules of the game and be playing on the same pitch."

The connection challenge

Powell also spoke about the roll-out of 5G, which she described as "agonisingly slow" under Tory rule. Labour aims to speed that up with a more "joined-up approach to getting cables in the ground."

Internet connectivity is more than just the infrastructure, though, and even where the connectivity exists many people cannot afford it.

Powell referenced a recent Ofcom analysis that found that over a third of homes are having trouble paying their broadband bills.

According to a Lloyds Bank poll, 25% of respondents who hadn't used the internet in the previous three months cited cost as their reason.

Powell shared a three-point plan to address connectivity access issues, which entails: rolling back the wholesale price cap put in place in 2019; having Ofcom review consumer protections to address mid-term contract price rises and other hidden penalties; and implementing a mandatory, industry-wide social tariff.

When asked how Labour planned to engage the public with the social tariff, Powell said that customers should be signposted to it, as the majority of people are unaware of its existence.

Safety and security

The Shadow Digital Secretary pointed out that the Online Safety Bill may run out of time in this parliamentary session if does not make it to the House of Lords by Christmas. The bill is currently at the report stage, and still has to go through its third reading in the House of Commons before reaching the Lords.

The proposal was scheduled to be discussed in Parliament on the 1st November, but was postponed - again - as a result of the most recent Conservative Party leadership crisis.

Damian Collins, the junior minister in charge of delivering the law, resigned from his position last month as a result of the political unrest. No new date has been set for the legislation's return to Parliament.

"We [Labour] stand ready to pass the Online Safety Bill," Powell said. "It isn't perfect, but we mustn't let perfection be the enemy of good."

She added that the legislation should focus on limiting the algorithmic distribution of harmful material rather than monitoring individual postings on social media platforms.