How do you turn a campaign into law when some of the world’s richest companies are determined to stop you?
Filmmaker and crossbench peer Baroness Beeban Kidron joins us to discuss the art of legislating for the digital world. From protecting children online to defending creators’ copyright against AI companies, she explains how she built support, won amendments and persuaded reluctant ministers to act.
But winning a vote is only part of the battle. Kidron contrasts her experience of the children’s privacy code with Ofcom’s implementation of the Online Safety Act, arguing that Parliament needs stronger powers to hold regulators to its intentions.
She also describes Big Tech’s tactics for resisting regulation, the pressure to back down during parliamentary “ping-pong”, and why she rejects the claim that technology moves too fast for lawmakers.
Her new book is Users: How Big Tech Took Control and How to Fight Back.
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:00 From filmmaking to campaigning
04:00 Turning children’s rights into legislation
09:00 Winning amendments and building support
13:00 Delegated legislation and regulatory accountability
18:00 Can Parliament keep up with technology?
22:00 Challenging “tech exceptionalism”
27:00 Reforming Parliament’s legislative machinery
32:00 Big Tech’s resistance playbook
40:00 AI, copyright and celebrity allies
43:00 Parliamentary ping-pong: when should peers give way?
47:00 Is the political tide turning against Big Tech?
51:00 Book details and closing remarks
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Parliament Matters is a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
Presenters: Mark D’Arcy and Ruth Fox
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