Ofcom is seeking evidence to strengthen its understanding of the range of approaches and techniques platforms can employ to help them meet their proposed duties under the Online Safety Bill.

Under the Online Safety Bill, services which host user-generated content and search engines will be required to have systems and processes in place to protect individuals from certain types of online harms. Ofcom has also published a roadmap, setting out its plans for implementation of the Online Safety Bill (see here). The call for evidence is focused on the matters that, as set out in the roadmap, will be included in Ofcom’s first consultation in 2023: mitigations around illegal content; assessment of the risk of harm from illegal content; child access assessments; and transparency requirements.

Ofcom would like to hear from businesses, organisations and groups that are able to provide evidence around its questions, including providers whose services are likely to fall within scope of the Online Safety framework, as well as regulators, academics, civil society organisations, consumer representatives and other stakeholders with interest and expertise in this area.

The call for evidence will remain open for ten weeks and closes at 5pm on 13 September 2022. To access the call for evidence, click here.