United Kingdom: Published Ofcom draft Illegal Content Code of Practice for search services

On 16 December 2024, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) published a draft for the illegal content Codes of Practice for search service providers under the Online Safety Act. Platforms are divided into two groups, with a large service being defined as having an average user base of more than 7 million per month in the UK and smaller services below the threshold. The draft subdivides the services into three different categories, low-risk, specific risk, and multi-risk. The recommended measures are structured thematically, with chapters covering specific areas such as governance and accountability, search moderation, reporting and complaints, publicly available statements, settings, functionalities, and user support. Each measure in the Codes of Practice includes an "application" section detailing its scope and a table indexing the measures by their applicability to services, inclusion in relevant Codes, and related obligations. The code, presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State, will come into force 21 calendar days after its publication if Parliament does not object.