If you or your business provides an online service, like a website or app, then the Online Safety Act might apply to you (Ofcom, 2024).

Did you know that when the new Online Safety Act was introduced in 2023, Ofcom became the regulator for Online Safety to ensure you keep a ‘Duty of Care’ towards others online, especially children?

The rules apply to all organisations of any size and they also apply to individuals who run an online service in any capacity to ensure people are kept safe from harm and it is recommended that the safety measures from Ofcom are adopted to help with this.

Although many of the rules have not come into force yet, the first new duties will be taking effect at the end of 2024. However, if you are a business owner, it is something you need to look into and check to see whether the Online safety Act applies to you if you are providing services online.

Businesses will need to:

• assess the risk of harm from illegal content;
• assess the particular risk of harm to children from harmful content
• take effective steps to manage and mitigate the risks you identify in these assessments;
• in your terms of service, clearly explain how you will protect users;
• make it easy for your users to report illegal content, and content harmful to children;
• consider the importance of protecting freedom of expression and the right to privacy when implementing safety measures (Ofcom, 2024)

Some businesses will have other duties to meet, so that:

• people have more choice and control over what they see online; and
• companies are more transparent and can be held to account for their activities.

As a business owner, it is upto you to assess the risks and to ensure you are meeting regulatory standards.

You can use the online checker tool to see if the Online Safety Act applies to you here.