The Online Safety Bill has been approved by the House of Lords.

The Bill is due to become law in October once it has received Royal Assent.

Financial Planners have welcomed the Bill, and said it is a good step forward towards making technology firms take action against a growing level of online financial fraud.

Wealth management trade body PIMFA said Ofcom will need to be appropriately resourced if it is to regulate the whole of social media.

David Ostojitsch, director of government relations and policy at PIMFA, said: “PIMFA will continue campaigning to ensure the public is properly protected from fraud. Ofcom must be appropriately resourced to regulate the whole of social media, and it will need help.

"To ensure that the law is enforced and fraud eradicated in this country, PIMFA has repeatedly called for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to have a role in helping Ofcom manage its new position.

“We will continue to campaign for the FCA to have such a role and hope that, in time, it will help stop fraudsters from gaining access to potential victims."

On Tuesday, the FCA said it was working closely with the Government as part of the passage of the Bill of whether the cost of compensating for consumer losses due to fraud is being appropriately shared.

Priti Verma, chief risk officer at Quilter, said: “We’ve had an exceptionally long period of time where politicians and organisations have all been saying the same thing – that the Online Safety Bill must include measures that put the onus on the tech companies to take direct action for advertising scams and impersonation scams. It is therefore a good step forward that this Bill is finally going to receive Royal Assent and includes those measures.

“UK Finance reported over £1.2 billion was stolen through fraud in 2022 and consumers across the UK need firm assurance that tech companies are serious about eradicating the threat of online fraud. The fact that, until now, fraudsters were able to sell their fraudulent wares, with virtually no regulatory measures in place to protect consumers, or sanctions on those tech firms, has been a failing for many years.

“The tech sector must now step up, embrace the new measures and help raise awareness of online threats through advertising and media campaigns.”

Stephen Almond, executive director of regulatory risk at the Information Commissioner’s Office, said: “The Online Safety Bill is the first step in making the UK the safest place in the world to be online. We are working hand-in-hand with Ofcom to ensure that organisations uphold both their online safety and data protection obligations to protect children and adults alike.”