Media coverage over the last year has detailed the presence of a number of forums accessible from the UK and the tragic fact that a number of individuals, many of whom were children, have taken their own lives based on information or encouragement from these sites, or by using substances sourced online. Many, if not all of these sites, are small and based overseas. In this explainer, we consider whether the Online Safety Act improves the ability of Ofcom to take action against these sites.

The second phase of Ofcom’s major consultation programme to inform their implementation of the Online Safety Act focuses on the duties to protect children. In this explainer, Prof Lorna Woods and Dr Alexandros Antoniou set out what these duties are and what they require from regulated services in response. A PDF copy of this explainer is available to download at the bottom of the page. Overview User-to-user services and search services are subject to duties in relation to content harmful to children under the Online Safety Act (OSA), but only when those services “are likely to be accessed by children” (s 7(4) OSA, repeated in ss 11(1), 12(1), 28(1) and 29(1); see alsoExplanatory Notes (EN), paras 222 and 227).

The Online Safety Act sets out Ofcom’s enforcement powers in Chapter Six (Sections 130-151). Ofcom recently consulted on its approach to enforcement and the proposed draft guidance as part of its consultation on illegal harms. In Volume 6 (Information gathering and enforcement powers and approach to supervision), the regulator says: “Ofcom’s general approach to enforcement is guided by our regulatory principles. We operate with a bias against intervention but with a willingness to intervene promptly and effectively when required.

Under the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA), Ofcom is required to prepare and issue Codes of Practice (CoP) for Part 3 service providers (U2U and search services), setting out measures recommended for compliance with specified duties, bearing in mind the principles in Schedule 4. The CoPs relate to the design, operation and use of services in the UK (or as they affect UK users of the service) but apply to providers of such services regardless of whether or not they are inside the UK.

The first phase of Ofcom’s consultations on implementing the Online Safety Act focuses on the illegal content duties. In this explainer, Prof Lorna Woods and Dr Alexandros Antoniou set out what these duties do in relation to search services and what they require from regulated services in response. A complementary explainer is available on how the illegal content duties apply to user-to-user services. There are three types of duty for search services relating to illegal content:

The first phase of Ofcom’s consultations on implementing the Online Safety Act focuses on the illegal content duties as they apply to user-to-user services. In this explainer, Prof Lorna Woods and Dr Alexandros Antoniou set out what these duties do and what they require from regulated services in response. A complementary explainer is available on how the illegal content duties apply to search services. There are three types of duty for user-to-user (U2U) services relating to illegal content:

The Online Safety Act’s illegal content duties apply to offences, defined as “priority illegal content” that are contained in Schedule 5 (terrorism offences), Schedule 6 (child sexual abuse offences) and Schedule 7 (a range of other offences). The PDF below provides links to the legislation that underpins those individual offences and, where applicable, Crown Prosecution Guidance on the offence.

The Online Safety Bill completed its Parliamentary passage in September 2023 and was granted Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out a broad, if complex, framework for regulation. Many of the provisions came into force as soon as the Act was passed (see our Commencement explainer here); it will be for Ofcom – as the designated regulator – to then fill in the detail of the implementation regime through a swathe of consultations, including risk assessments, codes of practice and guidance.

This table provides an at-a-glance comparison of the duties that the Online Safety Act confers on regulated services in each category: 1, 2a. 2b and search.

This timeline sets out what happened when - from the UK Government’s initial policy proposals on internet regulation through to the Online Safety Act receiving Royal Assent. A PDF with clickable links to the policy and legislative documents is available to download below.