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United Kingdom: Online Safety Act category thresholds with additional obligations were implemented by Ofcom following parliamentary approval

Policy overview

Description

Online Safety Act category thresholds with additional obligations were implemented by Ofcom following parliamentary approval

On 27 February 2025, the thresholds for categorising digital services under the Online Safety Act came into force, defining the criteria for Category 1, Category 2A and Category 2B services. This follows parliamentary approval of the regulations on …

Scope

Policy Area
Content moderation
Policy Instrument
Content moderation regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
platform intermediary: user-generated content, other service provider, software provider: app stores, search service provider, messaging service provider
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
legislature
Government Body
parliament

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2023-07-11
in consultation

On 11 July 2023, Ofcom opened a public consultation on its recommendations to the UK Government reg…

2023-09-12
processing consultation

On 12 September 2023, Ofcom closed the public consultation on its recommendations to the UK Governm…

2024-03-25
adopted

On 25 March 2024, Ofcom published its recommendations to the UK Government regarding classification…

2024-12-16
under deliberation

On 16 December 2024, draft regulations for the Online Safety Act category thresholds, which set add…

2025-02-25
adopted

On 25 February 2025, the House of Lords provided final approval to the thresholds for categorising …

2025-02-26
in force

On 27 February 2025, the thresholds for categorising digital services under the Online Safety Act c…