David Cameron to appoint Joanna Shields as web safety minister
Joanna Shields, the former Facebook executive turned Conservative peer, is set to be appointed as minister for internet security in the new government.
Baroness Shields is formally listed on the government’s website as a minister in the department for culture, media and sport. However, she has not yet been given a full portfolio by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.
CityAM understands that internet security and protecting children online is the role Shield’s new department expect her to take.
She will lead the government’s drive to tackle online child pornography, something Cameron has pledged to clamp down on, as well as broader internet security. Shields has already led tech industry efforts to engage with a trans-Atlantic taskforce tackling child pornography. Following reports in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper of Shields’ appointment, a Downing Street spokesman said: “Details of her portfolio have not been confirmed.”
Shields was born in Pennsylvania, and holds dual US and UK citizenship. She was appointed to the House of Lords in September 2014, from where she has served as the PM’s adviser on the digital economy.
Shields is currently a non executive director of the London Stock Exchange, and the chair of Tech City, the organisation which promotes London as a startup and technology hub.