The UK Online Safety Act (OSA) is a landmark piece of legislation  in the UK that is reshaping the digital landscape. It  places a new "duty of care" on online platforms to protect their users from harmful content. It brings us one step further on CybSafe’s mission of making the internet a safer digital place. Here’s a summary of what the new law means for user safety and what it signals for the future of online platforms.

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A New Era of Responsibility for Online Platforms

The core of the OSA is its legal framework that holds platforms accountable for the content they host. This isn't just about removing illegal material; it's about proactively assessing and mitigating the risks of harm to users. This "duty of care" extends across all services where users can post content or interact with others, from social media to search engines.

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Prioritising Child Safety

The act’s strongest protections are designed for children. Platforms must implement "highly effective age assurance" measures to prevent minors from accessing a range of harmful content, including pornography and material that promotes self-harm, suicide, or eating disorders. Companies are also required to conduct regular risk assessments and provide clear, accessible ways for children and parents to report problems. This shift moves the onus of responsibility from the user to the platform itself, mandating a safer digital environment by design.

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What will Social Media platforms now have to do? 

• Enforce Age Limits: Use "highly effective age assurance" to prevent children from accessing content that is illegal for them to view, such as pornography. While the act does not set a minimum age for social media, it requires platforms to consistently enforce their own age limits and take steps to protect children who may be on their service.

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• Filter Harmful Content: The platform’s algorithms, which are central to its user experience, must be configured to filter out harmful content from children's feeds. This is a direct response to concerns that personalised recommendation systems can lead children down "escalation pathways" to more extreme content. IN practice this means they  must ensure that content promoting things like self-harm, eating disorders, or dangerous stunts is removed quickly and proactively filtered from children's feeds.

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• Protect Minors from Strangers: Platforms must prevent strangers from messaging children and ensure children are not recommended accounts to connect with that could pose a risk.

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• Provide User-Friendly Reporting: Platforms must provide clear and easily accessible ways for both children and their parents to report harmful content or inappropriate interactions.

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Ofcom's Powerful Role as Regulator

The enforcement of the act falls to Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator. Ofcom has been given extensive powers to ensure compliance, including the ability to issue significant fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a company's global revenue, whichever is greater. In severe cases of non-compliance, Ofcom can even seek to block services from operating in the UK. This regulatory teeth ensures that the new laws have serious consequences for those who fail to protect their users.

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What This Means for Human Risk and Compliance

From a human risk perspective, the Online Safety Act highlights the growing importance of a secure and compliant digital environment. The law's emphasis on transparency, risk assessments, and user-empowerment tools aligns with our mission to manage and mitigate human risk. As the digital world continues to evolve, understanding and adapting to these new regulations will be a critical part of maintaining a secure and responsible online presence. Hopefully back to school  in September will be safer in the digital context!