The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill becomes law, allowing fines of up to £18M or 10% of global turnover; Ofcom now plans to publish its codes of practice
Our new regulatory framework for enhancing online safety has just become law, and now the real work begins. … Forums: r/antipornography : The UK moves closer to protecting children from online adult content r/privacy : The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law r/CryptoCurrency : The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law. Good bye end to end encryption... r/technology : The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law | The bill, which aims to make the UK ‘the safest place in the world to be online,’ received royal assent today. … r/unitedkingdom : The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law Beehaw : The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law Msmash / Slashdot : The UK's Controversial Online Safety Bill Finally Becomes Law
The VergeJon Porter
Context & Ripple Effects
The law’s enactment closes a legislative arc that moved from earlier proposals for expanded offenses and company safety roles to Parliament’s approval of the bill ahead of Royal Assent. It shifts the story from legislation to implementation by Ofcom.
The regime had already been tightened through [[a:841620|stronger age-verification expectations for porn sites and executive accountability for child safety]]. The significance now rests on how Ofcom translates those obligations into codes that services can operationalize and be judged against.
First-order effects
Online services within the regime face a new compliance and enforcement framework, with potential penalties of up to £18M or 10% of global turnover for non-compliance.
Ofcom moves into the central implementation role, beginning with codes of practice that will define how services demonstrate adherence to the law.
Second-order effects
Compliance, trust-and-safety, and age-assurance functions become more consequential as platforms align product policies and operational processes with Ofcom’s forthcoming codes.
The size of the available penalties raises the cost of uneven compliance, putting pressure on services to treat UK safety requirements as a senior management and governance issue rather than a marginal policy function.
Third-order effects
If Ofcom’s codes become a durable enforcement baseline, platform governance will increasingly be shaped by regulator-defined duties rather than firms’ voluntary safety policies.
The law is a test of distribution-layer liability: its longer-term effect will depend on whether code-based obligations can improve safety without imposing disproportionate burdens on smaller or privacy-sensitive services.
The trend: The UK is moving toward access-control regulation that makes online services accountable for safety practices through enforceable, regulator-led compliance standards.
The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill has finally become law The bill aims to tackle: - underage access to online pornography - anonymous trolls - scam ads - nonconsensual sharing of intimate deepfakes - spread of child sexual abuse material + terrorism-related content Punish…
The Online Safety Bill has officially become law. Sir @PeterWanless🎙️: 'Having this on the statute book means that children are safer. ‘The @NSPCC will continue to ensure there is a focus on children by everyone involved in regulation.’ #onlinesafetyact https://www.bbc.com/...
At @mmhpi we campaigned for years with other partners to ensure the #OnlineSafetyAct included legal duties for tech firms to crack down on scam content. I'm delighted that today it finally becomes law & that tech platforms now have to act on fraud 🎉🚀 https://www.bbc.com/...
The @NSPCC is delighted that the Online Safety Bill is now law, thanks to campaigning by young people, survivors of abuse & hard work by both Houses & civil servants. Next week we host a celebratory event in Parliament with many who have helped 💚 https://www.bbc.com/...
🧵The passing of the Online Safety Bill is a significant step forward in our collective fight to make online spaces safer for everyone, particularly children and young people. (1/3)
We all want children and young people to be able to use technology safely and without threat or fear. The passing of the Online Safety Bill is of huge significance for the protection of young people online and provides much needed support in our collective fight against predators
“The Online Safety Bill is the first step in making the UK the safest place in the world to be online. We're working with @Ofcom to ensure that organisations uphold their online safety and data protection obligations” - Stephen Almond, ICO Executive Director of Regulatory Risk
The Online Safety Act has today received Royal Assent 🎉 When the Act was first introduced to Parliament, there was not one mention of women or girls. After campaigning for over a year, we were pleased that the government made two vital changes to the Bill https://www.bbc.com/...
I have championed the Online Safety Bill from its inception to becoming law today. I would like to thank the campaigners, parliamentarians, survivors of abuse and charities that worked tirelessly to get it over the finish line. Watch the video below to see its journey 👇
🚨BIG CAMPAIGN WIN! After years of campaigning, the Online Safety Bill has become law! @Ofcom must ensure the codes of practice set a high standard for holding firms to account & be prepared to take strong enforcement action, including fines, against firms if they break the law [i…
Pleased to see Online Safety Bill has become law. This is a landmark moment and will go a long way to protect all children online, particularly the most vulnerable. I will continue working with @Ofcom to ensure children are heard & protected in the Codes of Practice.
Ofcom is one of the world's first Online Safety regulators and we've been preparing for the last 3 years by: 🧑🤝🧑Building a dedicated team of experts 📝Carrying out extensive research 📹Regulating video-sharing platforms
This will take time, but our first steps will be to publish draft plans for steps tech firms can take to protect their users from illegal content. Publishing our first consultation on 9 November. Read more here ➡️ https://www.ofcom.org.uk/... [image]
Royal assent has been granted to the Online Safety Bill. It is now an Act of Law. Next it's implementation. Ofcom, the regulator, must move quickly to use its powers to make our online world safer
Our focus is on protecting children, reducing harm from illegal content, and empowering users - while balancing rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Types of illegal content include: - Child sexual abuse and grooming - Pro-suicide content - Fraud
The Online Safety Bill has become law and will make the UK the safest place to be online 🔒 It will: 🛡️ increase protection for children 📲 give adults greater control over their online experience ❌ keep illegal content away from users Read more 🔽 https://www.gov.uk/... [image]
The UK's controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law | The bill, which aims to make the UK ‘the safest place in the world to be online,’ received royal assent today. …