Illegal and harmful content

Ofcom is strengthening its online safety codes of practice by telling platforms they should have protocols in place to respond to spikes in illegal content during a crisis.

This statement sets out our decision to recommend that service providers should prepare and apply a crisis protocol to mitigate and manage the risks arising from a significant increase in relevant illegal content and/or content harmful to children on their services.

Our illegal harms policy statement includes our full guidance, Codes of Practice and other documents relating to online services' duties under the Online Safety Act.

Find out about the new fees-related duties imposed on certain providers of regulated services under the Online Safety Act and how to comply with them.

A reminder to pornography services about their duties to tackle Extreme Pornography under the Online Safety Act, in response to allegations of "sleep content" being available to UK users.

We are investigating whether a provider of an online suicide discussion forum has failed/is failing to comply with its duties under the Online Safety Act 2023.

Platforms should use detection technology to stop spread of illegal intimate images online, under strengthened Ofcom Codes.

Online interactions play a major role in our daily lives. While most people have positive experiences online, for many women and girls life online can be an extension of harmful gender dynamics that exist in wider society.

This statement sets out our decision to recommend that certain service providers should use ‘hash matching’ technology to detect intimate image abuse and reduce its spread online.

Guidance for the online dating industry on how the Online Safety Act applies to these services, the risks online dating could present to users, and what to do to comply with the rules.