Feeling safer already?

His Majesty the King, Charles III, not thinking fit to be personally present in the House of Lords caused a Royal Commission to be issued and, at approximately 13:34 today, 26 October 2023, Royal Assent was granted to the controversial Online Safety Act 2023.

While the legislation has not as yet been published in its enacted form, the new online safety regulator, Ofcom, was quick off the mark to publish details of its plans for the implementation of the Act in its Roadmap to Regulation.

We have converted Ofcom’s Roadmap to Regulation into a visual timeline, and you can download a copy by clicking on the image. 

In addition, Ofcom published a summary of the obligations on the categories of service which will fall under its jurisdiction under the Online Safety Act: user-to-user services; search services; video-sharing platforms; and, services with pornographic content.

When the Bill was first introduced it was touted as making “the UK the safest place in the world to be online while defending free expression”.

We will be publishing a series of posts and guidance relating to the new Online Safety Act 2023, the organisations to which it applies, its implications, and whether it lives up to its promise, as well as comparisons with the EU Digital Services Act, US and other legislation. In the meantime, for resources relating to online safety and online harms, in the UK and overseas, visit our Online Safety and Online Harms resources page.