Ofcom has published its Illegal Harms Codes of Practice, firing the starting gun for in-scope online platforms to conduct risk assessments by 16 March 2025.

We have commented previously on the online illegal harms consultation (all 1600 pages of it) here. The new Codes and accompanying material make for equally heavy reading, not only setting out the responses to the consultation, but also what is expected of in-scope online platforms, divided into three volumes: (1) Governance and Risk Management; (2) Service Design and User Choice; and (3) Transparency and Trust.

Helpfully, Ofcom has produced summaries of each chapter here, as well as a particularly user-friendly summary of its decisions as they apply to user-to-user and search services (here). The summary document sets out the significant number of measures that will be expected to be implemented by services of various sizes and with various risk profiles, including everything from having a content moderation function that allows for the swift take down of illegal content, to having an easy-to-use complaints system and clear and accessible terms of service.

According to Ofcom’s Overview document (see here), the suite of documents that it has published mark a “critical step toward creating a safer life online for UK users” and it expects that the new Codes and guidance will, among other things, provide better protection from the full range of Illegal Harms and put managing the risk of harm at the heart of decision-making within those organisations to which the Online Safety Act 2023 (“OSA”) applies.

Ofcom also makes clear that this is just the beginning. It states that it is already working towards producing a further consultation in Spring 2025 on expansions to the Codes, including proposals on, for example, banning the accounts of those found to have shared Child Sexual Abuse Material, tacking illegal harms through the use of AI, and crisis response protocols for emergency events such as the riots seen in the UK last summer.

In the immediate future, those providers who fall within the scope of the illegal content duties in the OSA must complete their Illegal Harms Risk Assessments by 16 March 2025. After that, assuming the Codes receive parliamentary approval by then, Ofcom is clear that “providers will be expected to take the steps set out in the Codes or use other effective measures to protect users”.

To read more, click here.