The Online Safety Bill

• Published date: 14 July 2023
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, Compliance, Corporate and Company Law, IT and Internet, Social Media
• Law Firm: Weightmans
• Author: Ms Nicola Gonnella

Following the Bill through Parliament we look at the scope of the Bill, the legal requirements and offer some tips to help you prepare your business.

As the Online Safety Bill progresses on its journey through Parliament, we consider; the wide online scope of the Bill; some key duties and criminal offences under the Bill; and tips to help prepare your business, pursuant to application of the Bill.

The Bill looks to protect children and adults online and make social media companies more responsible for their users' safety on their platforms.

The Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent sometime during 2023. As part of our guidance series, Weightmans will release updates as the Bill progresses. Under the Bill, companies in scope will have to put in place systems and processes to improve user safety.

You can sign up to stay up to date with the Bill's key developments and other commercial law topics.

Scope of the Bill

The scope of the Bill is far reaching and as well as applying to the big social media platforms and search engines, is likely to encompass thousands of smaller platforms, including messaging services, websites, platforms and online forums where information can be shared, where advertising is served, or where users might interact with other users.

Legal requirements

The Bill imposes legal requirements on:

• providers of internet services which allow users to encounter content generated, uploaded or shared by other users;
• providers of search engines which enable users to search multiple websites and databases; and
• providers of internet services which publish or display pornographic content (meaning pornographic content published by a provider).

Regulator

Ofcom will be the appointed regulator in the UK to enforce the Bill.

Platforms will have to show they have processes in place to meet the requirements set out by the Bill. Ofcom will check how effective those processes are at protecting internet users from harm.

Ofcom will have powers to take action against companies which do not follow their new duties. Companies will be fined up to '18 million or 10 percent of their annual global turnover, whichever is greater. Criminal action will also be taken against senior managers who fail to follow information requests from Ofcom.

In the most extreme cases, with the agreement of the courts, Ofcom will be able to require payment providers, advertisers and internet service providers to stop working with a site, preventing it from generating money or being...