United Kingdom: Office of Communications closes consultation on proposed amendments to Chapter 4 of the Illegal Content Judgements Guidance

On 20 October 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) closes its consultation on proposed amendments to Chapter 4 of the Illegal Content Judgements Guidance, which was initiated on 30 June 2025. The amendments enhance the guidelines for identifying and handling illegal content related to child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). They introduce new paragraphs and boxes on 'Usage examples' and 'Reasonably available information for user-to-user services'. The guidance outlines the duty of providers to report detected but unreported CSEA content to the National Crime Agency, details criteria for identifying indecent images, pseudo-photographs, and prohibited images of children, addresses the use of generative artificial intelligence in creating illegal content, and covers the responsibilities of service providers in inferring the age of subjects in potentially illegal material.