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This week, IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh and I published our briefing on the Online Safety Bill. The Bill has been in development for several years – I first wrote about it in Spring 2021 in my paper More Harm Than Good. I could see then that freedom of speech and association were under threat from the desire to drive ‘harm’ from the internet.
In our research into the wording of the Bill and the associated impact assessment, Matthew and I found that it does indeed pose disproportionate controls on speech online, with likely negative effects on free speech, privacy and innovation.
The duties on online platforms will apply to social media, search and private messages. The government estimates that 25,000 platforms in the UK will be in scope, all of which will need to risk assess their content for potential harms, and then apply systems and processes to remove illegal content.
Illegality in speech and images is very hard to determine though: in the offline world, alleged crimes would be investigated by the police, the accused would be able to defend themselves and due process would apply, with the courts giving weight to freedom of expression. Search engines and social media platforms will not wait for a conviction or carry out a full investigation – they will be expected to act on reasonable belief – so material that would be legal offline will be removed.
There are many other problems with the Bill that will affect privacy and innovation in the digital economy too. I wrote about this in the Telegraph and I also participated in a panel discussion with the Centre for Data Innovation on the privacy implications of the Online Safety Bill. Matthew lamented in his column in the Times that the Bill seems to show government is set on replacing EU regulation with much worse versions of our own.
Lord Frost also weighed in. Welcoming our report, he remarked:
"A Conservative Government should not be putting this view into law. The best thing the Government could do would be to slim down the Bill so they can proceed rapidly with the genuinely uncontroversial aspects, and consign the rest where it belongs – the wastepaper basket".
Matthew also recorded a useful explainer on the paper, which can be watched on our YouTube Channel.
Victoria Hewson
Head of Regulatory Affairs, Institute of Economic Affairs
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MORE TROUBLE THAN IT'S WORTH
On Thursday, the IEA released a briefing paper by IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop detailing why introducing an online sales tax would worsen the cost of living crisis.
An online sales tax, which is intended to help traditional bricks and mortar businesses, is under consideration by the UK Treasury. The government estimates that an additional tax on online transactions could raise £1-2 billion annually to help pay for a reduction in business rates for physical retailers.
Julian warned that any additional costs levied on businesses will be passed onto the consumer in the form of higher prices, increasing the burden on squeezed households. Not only would administering an online sales tax be complex and costly, it would send a bad signal that innovations which benefit consumers are somehow to be feared, and penalised. Read the full paper here.
The paper was also reported in The Times and regional press.
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LIVE WITH(out) LITTLEWOOD
On Wednesday, Alex Deane, political commentator and consultant, took over from Martin Durkin as guest presenter of Live with(out) Littlewood. The panel discussed whether industrial action has left Britain in crisis, the draconian Online Safety Bill, and whether Boris Johnson has done enough to remain Prime Minister.
Guests this week were Alys Denby, Deputy Editor at CapX; Mark Johnson, Legal and Policy Officer at Big Brother Watch; Christopher Snowdon, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics and Victoria Hewson, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs.
Discussing the rail strikes and the prospect of a general strike, Alys Denby said she had sympathy for people struggling with the cost of living but argued the country should not be held to ransom by "militant trade unions on a political mission".
Mark Johnson and Victoria Hewson critiqued the Online Safety Bill, warning viewers of the consequences on civil liberties. And, after two by-election losses for the Conservatives, the panel took stock of the problems facing Johnson's Conservative Party, including their lack of economic strategy.
Watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel here.
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iN THE MEDIA
Down tools... Commenting in The Telegraph on reports that doctors may soon strike in demand of a 30 per cent pay rise over the next five years, IEA Head of Public Policy Matthew Lesh said:
"Nobody doubts that doctors have worked extremely hard in recent years, but demanding such a gigantic pay rise is delusional. This would cost taxpayers billions, wiping away money earmarked to get on top of waiting lists, while doing little to improve patient care."
Keep the lights on... IEA Energy Analyst Andy Mayer argued in City AM that the government should ease the burden of red tape on fossil fuel plants and deliver an energy strategy which ensures security of supply.
Andy said: “Across Europe, net zero naivety is colliding with reality, leading to the return of coal-fired generation and the suspension of policies such as UK emissions checks on those plants. A climate policy, with tight capacity margins from the gas crisis, that risks letting the lights go out and the elderly freeze to death.”
Imagine all the people... Quoted in The Telegraph, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon commented on the 2021 census, which was published this week. The results show that the UK population has grown by over 6 per cent, driven largely by an increase in the amount of people over-65.
Christopher asserted: “There’s a notable bulge in the number of 70-to-79 year olds when compared to the 2011 census...These demographic changes are an economic time bomb ticking away under the health and welfare system that no politician knows how to defuse."
Asleep at the wheel... IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop called for a parliamentary inquiry into the Bank of England's failure to predict rising inflation. Quoted in the Daily Mail, Julian said:
"The Bank's failure to predict that inflation would take off was a massive error, with huge costs to the economy and people's wellbeing. Of course, the Bank was far from alone here. But a parliamentary investigation would be another opportunity to explore specific problems in the UK, including the lack of attention to the monetary drivers of inflation."
Eco-madness... Andy Mayer joined Julia Hartley-Brewer on Talk TV to discuss the weaknesses of the Climate Change Committee, following a report that government policies will not get the UK to Net Zero. Watch highlights here.
Sitting on a gold mine... Andy also appeared on a Sky News documentary exploring the fracking debate. Andy pointed out that we will require oil and gas for decades to come, and that by relying solely on imported gas from overseas, we will continue to pay higher costs. You can watch the full film here.
Accelerating digital trade... This week, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs Victoria Hewson spoke at the Economist Global Trade Week conference in a panel discussion on 'How can we accelerate digital trade platform interoperability?'.
Victoria also took part in the Automated Customs and International Trade Association (ACITA) conference on Tuesday on non-tariff barriers.
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As an educational charity, the work we do is entirely funded by donations. If you are able to help, please click here or get in touch with our Development Director Angela Harbutt at [email protected]. We thank you for your continued support.
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IEA DIGITAL
Markets and Morality... In this latest episode of Markets and Morality, Director of EPICENTER Adam Bartha spoke to Aaron Powell, host of (Re)Imagining Liberty, and Lorenzo Montanari, Vice President of International Affairs at Americans for Tax Reform to discuss the past, present, and future of libertarian alliances. Watch here.
Niemietz Answers... In this episode, IEA Head of Political Economy Kristian Niemietz answers Google's most-searched questions on capitalism. Kristian explores whether capitalism causes inequality, causes crime, benefits society and much more! Watch here.
IEA Podcast... On the podcast this week, IEA Communications and Public Affairs Officer Kieran Neild-Ali spoke to Kristian Niemietz about the book 'Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World’ over a pint.
The book details two economists, Benjamin Powell and Robert Lawson, who travel the world, sampling food and drink in countries with a historical or cultural link to socialism or communist regimes. Listen here.
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IEA BOOK CLUB EVENTS
How the Woke Won... On Monday 4 July, IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening will chair an event with Joanna Williams on her latest book, How the Woke Won: The Elitist Movement That Threatens Democracy, Tolerance, and Reason. Joanna provides a powerful critique of the intellectual roots of wokeness and how this movement, which poses as radical and left-wing, came to be embraced by some of the most privileged people imaginable.
All these events are exclusively for IEA Book Club members. For more information on the Book Club please get in touch at [email protected] or click the link here.
Restoring Confidence in the Market... At 12pm on Wednesday 6 July, the IEA and The Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics are hosting a joint event to discuss the topical question of whether the UK public has lost faith in free markets, and if so, what might be done about it.
CEME’s Director, Revd Dr Richard Turnbull, will present startling polling undertaken by CEME. Sir Bernard Silverman FRS, statistician and former President of the Royal Statistical Society and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Home Office, and Victoria Hewson, IEA Head of Regulatory Affairs, will contribute their thoughts on whether businesses themselves have caused the loss of confidence in the market or if other factors are at play. Panellist comments will be followed by Q&A with the audience. The event will be chaired by Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach.
A light lunch will be served at 12pm, with the discussion set to commence at 12:45pm and conclude at 2.30pm. If you would like to attend this free event, please apply to [email protected] to reserve a seat. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
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CALLING ALL STUDENTS!
We are excited to launch the Economic Thought Leaders’ Symposium at the University of Buckingham from 7-9 September 2022.
The theme for this year’s programme is The Economics of War and Peace. We will discuss topics like trade not war, international institutions, diplomacy and game theory. To apply, please send a CV and cover letter explaining why you’d like to attend, as well as 500 words on promoting the reconstruction of an economy after a war to [email protected] by 17 June 2022. You can find out more here.
We have launched the 2022 Dorian Fisher Essay Competition. Named after the beloved wife of our founder Sir Antony Fisher, this is our biggest essay competition of the year, exclusively for A-Level and IB students.
First prize will receive £500, with a separate prize of £500 for the school with the highest number of entrants. The deadline for this year’s competition is Friday 29 July 2022. You can find out more here.
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