Nadine Dorries has revealed that Oliver Dowden told her to “kick the Online Safety Bill into the long grass” on her first day as culture secretary.
The former culture secretary said the extraordinary piece of advice reflected “a particular view of big tech” and “attempts to regulate its harmful impact on consumers and on business”.
But Ms Dorries said she was “acutely aware of the suicide rate among young people,” having served as mental health miniser.
“After officials explained the Bill to me in detail, my instructions to them were clear: let’s get this legislation through Parliament — as quickly as possible,” she added.
The Online Safety Bill, which cleared parliament in September and is awaiting royal assent, is designed to tame the “Wild West” of the internet.
The reforms were developed in response to concerns about youngsters accessing pornographic content online, child sexual abuse in cyberspace and the impact of harmful material on social media, which has led young people to take their lives.
The bill makes social media platforms responsible for the content they host.
If they do not act to prevent and remove illegal content they will face significant fines of up to £18m or 10 per cent of global revenue – potentially billions of pounds – and in extreme cases their bosses could even face prison.
Tech firms strongly opposed the bill, which had a protracted journey through Parliament, claiming it would weaken the security of communication online.
And, two years after she ordered officials to crack down on big tech, Ms Dorries has claimed “evidence is growing that Rishi Sunak and his ministers may be buckling under intense lobbying” from firms.
In her Daily Mail column, the ex-MP said: “First, a provision to regulate ‘legal but harmful’ online material — which protected young and vulnerable adults from certain content — was removed from the Online Safety Bill.
“Now elements of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill — which allows vital regulation of Big Tech’s commercial powers — are being watered down.”
Ms Dorries said big tech, including Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Google, Apple and Microsoft, is becoming too powerful “in all areas of daily life”.
She said the platforms are putting independent journalism under threat by “lifting the work of journalists” and republishing articles without paying for them.
“Not only that, Big Tech can manipulate the online visibility of articles using algorithms,” Ms Dorries added.
Mr Dowden was the culture secretary from February 2020 to September 2021, and was replaced by Ms Dorries in a reshuffle under Boris Johnson.
He is now deputy prime minister under Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Cabinet Office and Conservative Party was asked to comment.
