United Kingdom: 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 26 February 2025. The regulations, based on advice from Ofcom, define Category 1 services as those with either more than 34 million UK users and a content recommendation system, or more than 7 million UK users, a content recommendation system and forwarding or resharing functionality. The categorisation sets out additional requirements, with Category 1 services subject to measures such as transparency reporting, protection of journalistic content and user empowerment tools. Category 2A applies to search engines with more than 7 million UK users, excluding those that only allow searches on specific topics or themes through pre-defined agreements. Category 2B applies to user-to-user services with more than 3 million UK users that provide direct messaging functionality where messages are not visible to other users unless shared by the sender or recipient. All regulated services, regardless of category, will remain subject to illegal content and child safety requirements. The approval allows Ofcom to publish a public register of categorised services and to consult on draft codes of practice and guidance as part of the regulatory framework for online safety in the UK.