United Kingdom: Office of Communications opened consultation on Draft Updated Risk Assessment Guidance and Risk Profiles under Online Safety Act 2023

On 24 March 2026, the Office of Communications opened a consultation on updated draft risk assessment guidance and risk profiles under the Online Safety Act 2023. The consultation will remain open until 24 April 2026. The guidance applies to providers of user-to-user and search services that are regulated under the Act. The Authority will update the guidance to reflect the designation of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm and cyberflashing as priority offences. It would combine the offences of encouraging or assisting suicide and encouraging or assisting serious self-harm into a single category labelled "suicide and self-harm". Cyberflashing would be introduced as a separate category of illegal harm. These updates would require providers to reassess risks using the updated risk factors set out in the Risk Profiles, and to assign overall risk levels and determine applicable safety measures. Service providers operating on or before the publication of the final guidance would be required to complete an illegal content risk assessment within 3 months of publication. Category 1 and Category 2A services would also be required to provide the Authority with a record of their assessment and to publish a summary of their findings.