UK Online Safety Act 2023
Description
Trying to track the staggered implementation of the UK Online Safety Act 2023 (“OSA”)? You are in safe hands here. See the latest updates and key dates below.
20 November 2024 – Government publishes a draft Statement of Strategic Priorities covering online safety policy priorities
The government have published a draft Statement setting out their strategic priorities for online safety, marking the first time the power is being exercised by the government. The purpose for the statement is to set out priorities for Ofcom to consider when exercising its regulatory functions and to guide the government’s implementation of the Online Safety Act. Ofcom will also have to report back to the Secretary of State on what action it has taken to ensure the priorities are being upheld. The five priorities include (1) safety by design, (2) transparency and accountability, (3) agile regulation, (4) inclusivity and resilience, and (5) technology and innovation.
15 November 2024 – Ofcom reiterates important dates for Online Safety Act compliance
With the first new duties taking effect towards the end of 2024, Ofcom has created a table to explain the important milestones for compliance. The table includes compulsory duties and optional deadlines to respond to consultations, outlining both the start date and the completion date for each milestone. The keyword search feature also allows users to find deadlines specific to their service type. As the earliest start date is December 2024, online service providers are encouraged to make use of the table and the guidance links provided to ensure their compliance with the new duties.
8 November 2024 – Ofcom publishes an open letter to online service providers regarding Generative AI and chatbots
Ofcom has published an open letter to UK online service providers to clarify how the Online Safety Act will apply to Generative AI and chatbots. The letter comes in the wake of the recent news surrounding the misuse of AI, including the use of a Generative AI chatbot platform to create ‘virtual clones’ of real people and deceased children. Ofcom have reiterated what is regulated under the OSA and how it applies to Generative AI chatbot tools and platforms. The letter strongly urges online service providers to prepare now to comply with the relevant duties using the draft Codes of Practice, with the first duties beginning to take effect from December 2024.
24 October 2024 – Ofcom publishes a consultation on a fees and penalties regime
Ofcom has published the first consultation on a new fees and penalties regime to respond to breaches of the Online Safety Act. Fees will be calculated based on providers’ qualifying worldwide revenue (“QWR”) which will then be used to calculate the maximum penalty cap that can be imposed on providers. Ofcom has now drafted secondary legislation to define QWR for the purposes of these calculations. The consultation also proposes a different approach when group undertakings are found jointly and severally liable, with the maximum penalty cap being the greater of £18 million or 10% of the QWR of the provider and every group undertaking related to the provider at the time. Responses to the consultation will close on 9 January 2025.
17 October 2024 – Ofcom publishes a progress update on the roadmap to regulation
Ofcom has provided an update on their progress since the Online Safety Act became law. The update outlines what Ofcom have done to implement the new rules, including publishing their media literacy strategy and publishing proposals for how services should approach content that is harmful to children. The progress report also outlines Ofcom’s intended next steps, focusing on illegal harms (Phase 1), child safety, pornography and the protection of women and girls (Phase 2), and categorisation and additional duties for categorised services (Phase 3).
The roadmap has been updated since the last progress report in October 2023. The implementation plan for Phase 1 remains largely unchanged, except for two additional consultations now proposed: one in December 2024 on minimum standards of accuracy and accreditation for terrorism notices, and another in Q2 2025 on additional measures.
Phase 2 has been reprioritised, with Ofcom accelerating certain implementation steps:
- The consultation on protecting women and girls has been advanced from Q2 2025 to February 2025.
- The timeline for completing children’s access assessments has been moved up from Q2 2025 to Q1 2025, with children’s risk assessments shifted forward from Q3 2025 to Q2 2025.
- The enforcement of the protection of children Codes is now expected in July 2025, earlier than the previous Q3-Q4 2025 timeframe.
These changes have led to Phase 3 being deferred to 2026, instead of 2025 as initially planned. Additionally, the updated roadmap outlines plan for Ofcom to issue advice on fee thresholds in April 2025 and release final guidance for super complaints in Q4 2025.
13 September 2024 – Government makes intimate image abuse a priority offence
The Government announced that the act of sharing intimate images without consent will be classified as a priority offence, which is the most serious type of offence under the Online Safety Act.
7 August 2024 – Ofcom publishes an open letter to online service providers
Ofcom has published an open letter urging UK online service providers to take immediate steps to prevent their platforms from being used to incite hatred, violence, or other illegal activities. The letter reiterates the need for proactive measures ahead of the Online Safety Act’s full implementation, noting that once the final codes of practice are released later this year, platforms will have three months to assess and mitigate risks, and must swiftly address illegal content.
2 August 2024 – Consultation opened: torture and animal cruelty and update on timing for illegal content assessments
Ofcom is consulting on updating its draft illegal harms codes and guidance under the Online Safety Act to include animal cruelty and human torture as content that platforms must address. This follows the November 2023 consultation, where animal cruelty was recognized as a late addition to the Act. The regulatory documents will be published alongside the Illegal Harms Statement in December 2024.
Following the publication of the documents, providers will have three months to conduct their illegal content risk assessment. This assessment will incorporate proposals from the torture and animal harms consultation, the illegal content discussed in the November 2023 consultation, and the findings from the May 2024 protection of children consultation.
The consultation period will run until 13 September 2024.
26 July 2024 – Consultation opened: draft transparency reporting guidance and online safety information guidance
Ofcom is consulting on draft statutory transparency reporting guidance covering the process that it will adopt for deciding what providers must include in their transparency reports. The guidance will also include how information from these reports will be used to inform Ofcom’s transparency report.
Additionally, Ofcom is seeking input on its proposed online safety information guidance. The proposal outlines when and how Ofcom may exercise its powers, designed to be adaptable to account for the specific circumstances in which these powers might be applied.
The consultation period will run until 4 October 2024.
17 July 2024 – Consultation closed: protecting children from harms online
Ofcom will consider all the responses and publish a regulatory statement and conclusions.
8 May 2024 – Consultation opened: protecting children from harms online
Ofcom published the second major consultation focusing on the proposal for how user-to-user services and search services should protect children from harmful content. The proposal includes draft Children’s Safety Code, draft Children’s Risk Assessment Guidance, and draft Children’s Access Assessment. The consultation will end on 17 July 2024.
19 April 2024 – Ofcom publishes principles for media literacy by design
Following a consultation on good media literacy ‘by design’ is for social media, search, video sharing and gaming services, Ofcom suggested 14 common principles categorised under the following:
- Proactivity, priority, transparency and accountability;
- User-centric design and timely interventions; and
- Monitoring and evaluating.
The principles align with what is expected for services regulated under the OSA.
1 April 2024 – Additional provisions from the OSA coming into force
Sections 101 (information in connection with an investigation into the death of a child) and 102 (information notices) came into force under the Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2023.
25 March 2024 – Consultation opened: additional duties applicable to online sites and apps
The regulator started the third phase of online safety regulation regarding extra duties for categorised services (i.e. those falling into Category 1, 2A or 2B). These extra obligations include empowering users with content control tools, safeguarding journalistic content, combating fraudulent advertising, and issuing transparency reports. To formulate codes of practice and guidance, Ofcom invites stakeholders to provide evidence, with a formal consultation scheduled for 2025 to incorporate feedback and finalize the regulatory framework.
5 March 2024 – Consultation closed: guidance for serving providers publishing pornographic content
The regulator closed the second out of four major consultations According to Ofcom’s timeline, final guidance and Parliamentary approval is expected in 2025. Ofcom also published additional materials, including draft guidance, covering online pornography regulation.
29 February 2024 - Ofcom advises the government on categorisation of services
Following research and industry consultation, Ofcom submitted its advice to the Secretary of State on the categorisation of services. In its recommendation, Ofcom sets out thresholds for each service category:
- Category 1 - Thresholds should target services meeting either of two conditions:
a. Condition 1: Using a content recommender system, with over 34 million UK users.
b. Condition 2: Allowing content forwarding or resharing, using a content recommender system, with over 7 million UK users. - Category 2A - thresholds should target search services (excluding vertical ones) with over 7 million UK users.
- Category 2B - thresholds target services allowing direct messaging, with over 3 million UK users.
23 February 2024 – Consultation period closed: protecting people from illegal harms
Ofcom will consider all the responses and plan to publish a regulatory statement and conclusions around the end of 2024. The code of practice is then expected to be submitted for Parliamentary approval.
21 February 2024 – House of Commons Committee Report: Preparedness for online safety regulation
The Committee of Public Accounts published recommendations to the government, including the importance of meeting implementation deadlines for the OSA and for Ofcom to work on ensuring they are well-placed to monitor and enforce the OSA.
31 January 2024 – Additional provisions from the OSA coming into force
Part 10 of the OSA, which deals with communications offences, came into force through the Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2024.
29 January 2024 – Overseas regulators published
The Online Safety (List of Overseas Regulators) Regulations 2024 specify overseas regulators for the purposes of section 114, covering cooperation and disclosure of information among them and Ofcom. The list includes the European Commission and regulators from Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany and France.
10 January 2024 – The Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2024
The regulation was passed and will bring into force Part 10 of the OSA on 31 January 2024. Part 10 creates various new offences such as sending flashing images, sending false communications, encouraging or assisting serious self-harm and threatening communications. The section also establishes extra-territorial application for such offences and liability of corporate officers.
10 January 2024 – Additional provisions from the OSA coming into force
Many provisions of the OSA came into force through the Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2023, including the remaining provisions of section 72 (Further duties about terms of service) which deals with ensuring that user-to-user service includes clear and accessible provisions in the terms of service informing users about their right to bring a claim for breach of contract.
19 December 2023 – The Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2023
The regulation was passed and will bring into force many provisions of the OSA on 10 January 2024 and 1 April 2024.
5 December 2023 – Consultation opened: guidance for serving providers publishing pornographic content
The second consultation focuses on draft guidance to assist providers of online services that publish or display regulated provider pornographic content in complying with their age assurance and record-keeping obligations under the OSA.
21 November 2023 – The Online Safety Act 2023 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2023
The regulation establish that subsections (2) and (7) of section 114 of the OSA come into force on 22 November 2023. These subsections deal with cooperation with overseas regulators.
9 November 2023 – Consultation opened: protecting people from illegal harms online started
As the first of four major consultations that Ofcom will publish for the OSA, the consultation focuses on proposals for how internet services that enable the sharing of user-generated content and search services should approach their new duties relating to illegal content.
26 October 2023 – The Online Safety Act 2023 received royal assent and became law in the UK
The law applies to online service providers that permit users to exchange user-generated content and to search engines. Find out more in a write-up when it was introduced.
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