Online Safety Act: new criminal offences circular

The Online Safety Act became law in October 2023 and contains a range of measures intended to improve online safety in the UK, including duties on internet platforms about having systems and processes in place to manage harmful content on their sites, including illegal content.

The Act also introduces new criminal offences and creates Ofcom as the regulator for online safety, granting it new powers including those required to enforce the framework.

You can read the full circular here, but of particular relevance:

Section 138 – Confirmation decision: offences

Section 138 creates an offence of failure to comply with requirements of a confirmation decision (see section 133) that relate to specified duties to protect children’s online safety without reasonable excuse. The specified duties are those at section 12(3)(a), section 12(3)(b), section 81(2), or section 81(4).

This section further provides that a person commits an offence if the person fails to comply, without reasonable excuse, with a CSEA requirement imposed by a confirmation decision given to the person.

A person who commits an offence under this section is liable for different penalties on summary conviction in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine (or both) on conviction on indictment.