United Kingdom: Government announced amendment to Online Safety Act 2023 designating self-harm and suicide content as a priority offence

Description

Government announced amendment to Online Safety Act 2023 designating self-harm and suicide content as a priority offence

On 8 September 2025, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology announced that the Online Safety Act will be amended to designate content encouraging or assisting serious self-harm as a priority offence. The regulations would establish le…

Scope

Policy Area
Content moderation
Policy Instrument
Content moderation regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
platform intermediary: user-generated content
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
central government

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2025-09-08
under deliberation

On 8 September 2025, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology announced that the Onlin…

2025-10-21
under deliberation

On 21 October 2025, the Secretary of State laid before Parliament the draft Online Safety Act 2023 …

2025-12-18
adopted

On 18 December 2025, the Secretary of State adopted the Online Safety Act 2023 (Priority Offences) …

2026-01-08
adopted

On 8 January 2026, the Online Safety Act 2023 (Priority Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 ente…