Adopted to tackle online harms and provide legal certainty for platform accountability, the Online Safety Act 2023 responds to escalating risks to children and users amid long-running debate over regulating major internet services. It establishes a statutory framework overseen by Ofcom for user-to-user and search services, imposing duties to prevent illegal content, protect children from harmful material, implement proportionate age-assurance, and comply with Ofcom codes, notices, and transparency obligations. Part 12 explicitly defines an “automated tool” as including one “which utilises artificial intelligence or machine learning”, confirming the Act’s direct application to AI-driven content moderation, detection, and recommendation systems. By bringing these algorithmic and AI-based processes under Ofcom’s supervisory remit, the Act marks a decisive shift from self-regulation to enforceable statutory control of digital intermediaries, with detailed operational standards to follow in Ofcom’s codes of practice and secondary legislation.
Date
Citation
2023 c. 50
Instrument Type
Jurisdiction
Institution