United Kingdom: Office of Communications published Codes of Practice for Age Assurance and Children’s Access for user-to-user services implementing Online Safety Act

On 16 January 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) published the Age Assurance and Access Statement, outlining measures to implement the Online Safety Act 2023. The statement introduces immediate obligations for Part 5 services (platforms displaying or publishing their own pornographic content), which must implement highly effective age assurance methods to prevent children from accessing their content by 17 January 2025. User-to-user services hosting pornographic content must comply by July 2025, when children’s safety duties come into full effect. By 16 April 2025, all regulated services must complete a children’s access assessment to determine if their platforms are likely to be accessed by children. Services identified as accessible to children will have three months to conduct risk assessments, guided by Ofcom’s Protection of Children Codes, to be published in April 2025. These codes will detail measures, including robust age assurance, to protect children from harmful content, with compliance required by July 2025. Ofcom has launched an enforcement programme to monitor adherence, beginning with Part 5 services, to ensure platforms meet their regulatory duties.