Online Safety Act 2023 – Making the UK The Safest Place To Be Online

“To make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.”[1] This is prominent goal of the Online Safety Act 2023, which came to force on the 26th October 2023. As headlines make their way across the country, it is important we talk about this legislation and its impact on social media companies and other online platforms.

With the growing use of the internet, it is crucial to have online safety laws to protect us and our loved ones from harmful content. The Online Safety Act “provides for a new regulatory framework which has the general purpose of making the use of internet services regulated by this Act safer for individuals in the United Kingdom.”[2] What this means is that under the new measures, companies in scope will have a duty of care to keep their users safe online from harmful and illegal content. OFCOM, who has been appointed by this Act as the formal regulator of online safety, writes “examples of illegal content include child sexual abuse material, terrorism, fraud, selling illegal drugs or weapons, and content encouraging self-harm or suicide.”[3] However, the onus is not on them to decide which content should be available, instead, “[their] role is to make sure social media sites and other regulated online services have appropriate systems and processes in place to protect users.”[4]

The companies in scope are user-generated providers, search engines, and pornographic content providers on the internet.[5] The legal duties imposed on these companies range from carrying out illegal content risk assessments to preventing children from accessing harmful content by implementing age-checking measures.

While the Act receives support from various sources, including the Government describing it as a “major milestone”,[6] there is still controversy and debate over users’ freedom of expression and privacy. The most talked-about section of the Act that everyone has their eye on is section 122, which had companies such as WhatsApp and Signal threatening to leave the UK.[7] This is because critics and tech companies claim this provision poses a threat to users’ privacy as it empowers OFCOM to issue notices to providers (if it considers it necessary and proportionate to do so) to use accredited technology to identify harmful content relating to terrorism and CSEA and prevent individuals from encountering such content.

As a result, several social media platforms that use end-to-end encryption services, (a service that allows only the sender and the recipient of a message to see the content) have threatened to leave the UK market if they are ordered to weaken their encryption services on account of section 122.[8] It appears balancing the right to privacy with the need to keep everyone safe online remains the foremost issue regarding this legislation. Nevertheless, the Government continues showing its full-support and contentment with the Act. The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology comments, “our common-sense approach will deliver a better future for British people, by making sure that what is illegal offline is illegal online.”[9]

The Act which has been years in the making has now become law and only time will show if the UK does become the safest place in the world to be online. But for now, it is undeniable that the Government has faith in it.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-children-and-adults-to-be-safer-online-as-world-leading-bill-becomes-law

[2] Online Safety Act 2023 s.1(1)

[3] https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2023/online-safety-ofcom-role-and-what-it-means-for-you

[4] Ibid

[5] https://www.lewissilkin.com/en/insights/the-online-safety-bill#3

[6] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/britain-makes-internet-safer-as-online-safety-bill-finished-and-ready-to-become-law

[7] https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-uks-controversial-online-safety-act-is-now-law#:~:text=By%20far%20the%20most%20divisive,aren%27t%20transmitting%20illegal%20material.

[8] https://www.ft.com/content/770e58b1-a299-4b7b-a129-bded8649a43b

[9] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/britain-makes-internet-safer-as-online-safety-bill-finished-and-ready-to-become-law