Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

Under the Digital Services Act, there is a right for everybody to recommend a system that is not based on profiling. Another thing we are considering in the online safety code is whether or not providers should have a duty to make sure the algorithm does not produce some toxic feed. Sometimes you get individual pieces of content that may not in themselves be harmful. I am thinking of content about beauty that is targeted at young girls. Sometimes that is promoting an unattainable body image, which can make them susceptible to eating disorders. It is not so much the individual pieces they see, rather it is the relentless stream of content that is doing that. One of the things we are thinking about is not just through the algorithm, which can be on or off, but whether there is a way of requiring providers to make sure their algorithms are safe but as Ms Hodnett said, we have not made final decisions. They will be in the online safety code, which is in our work plan for the end of this year, although it may slip into next year.