UK's Online Safety Regulator Ofcom Issues Draft Guidance for Tech Firms on Tackling Illegal Content and Child Safety

Ofcom's draft guidance under Online Safety Act includes protective measures against illegal content aimed at children, with specific recommendations for larger and higher risk platforms, fines for non-compliance, and a commitment to avoiding dictates on end-to-end encryption.

The first set of draft Codes of Practice under the Online Safety Act (OSA) issued by the UK's online safety regulator, Ofcom, addresses measures against illegal content aimed particularly at children. Larger and higher-risk platforms are advised to avoid suggesting friends to child users, prevent children from appearing in connection lists, and prohibit accounts outside a child's network from sending them direct messages.
The recommendations include fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover for platforms found in violation of the rules, however the exact steps that platforms need to take aren't specified in the law. The detailed Codes of Practice are being developed to provide recommendations to help companies comply with the law while avoiding dictates on end-to-end encryption.
The Online Safety Act places a legal duty on digital services to protect users from risks posed by illegal content, such as CSAM (child sexual abuse material), terrorism, fraud, intimate image abuse, stalking and harassment, and cyberflashing. Platforms are required to take steps to assess the risk of illegal content and take appropriate measures to protect users from it.
Ofcom plans to disrupt tech platforms that fail to comply with the Act, measures like cutting off firms from payment systems or blocking them from the UK entirely. The regulator has also suggested that all search services should ensure URLs identified as hosting CSAM are deindexed.
The entry into force of the regulations will be staggered, with some components already enforceable, like the information notices Ofcom can issue on in-scope services. While full compliance is expected within six months, Ofcom plans to take a reasonable and proportionate approach when enforcing the Act's provisions.