Correspondence

Tackling illegal content online and implementation of the Online Safety Act: letter from DSIT Secretary of State

Published 16 October 2024

The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
3rd Floor, 100 Parliament Street
London
SW1A 2BQ

16 October 2024

Dear Melanie, 

I want to extend my thanks for all of Ofcom’s work to implement the Online Safety Act. By the end of the year we will see the key components of the regime start to come into effect.

As we have discussed in our recent meetings, it is incredibly important that we get the protections of the Act in place as soon as possible and I am keen to continue our discussions on how the government can support Ofcom in delivering on this ambition. Fundamentally, this is about making sure that services take responsibility for ensuring their products are safe for their users. 

I know Ofcom is intending to finalise the illegal harms codes and risk assessment guidance by the end of the year. This will be a really important milestone for the implementation of the Act. It will mean that for the first time firms will be required to carry out risk assessments for illegal content. 

Then once the illegal harms codes have been approved by Parliament and come into effect next year, firms will have to put in place the appropriate mitigations to protect users from illegal content on their sites. 

The publication of Ofcom’s children’s access assessment guidance in early 2025 is another important milestone. Services will have to assess whether their service is likely to be accessed by children and once the Protection of Children Codes have been finalised by summer 2025 put in place the appropriate protections. 

Together, the illegal harms and child safety codes should put in place an important foundation for the protection of users. For example, children will be better protected online, with services having to introduce robust age-checks to prevent children seeing content such as suicide, self-harm material and pornography, and tackle harmful algorithms. Illegal content including hate speech, terrorist content and content that encourages or facilitates suicide should be taken down quickly when services are aware of it. Women and girls will be better protected from misogyny, harassment, and abuse online. 

The government fully supports Ofcom in using its enforcement powers as the requirements on services come into effect to make sure that the protections promised by the Act are being delivered for users. 

I also know you share my view that Ofcom’s codes of practice are iterative and will get stronger as Ofcom builds the evidence of what interventions are effective. 

In July and August, we saw how online misinformation and incitement fuelled violence and civil unrest across the UK, with violent attacks on temporary accommodation for asylum seekers, mosques, businesses, law enforcement and individuals. One of the most alarming aspects of this unrest was how quickly and widely content spread. In light of this, I would appreciate an update from you on the assessment Ofcom has made about how illegal content, particularly disinformation, spread during the period of disorder; and if there are targeted measures which Ofcom is considering for the next iteration of the illegal harms code of practice in response. 

I also want to emphasise the importance of the Advisory Committee on Disinformation and Misinformation that Ofcom are establishing under the OSA. I look forward to hearing about Ofcom’s progress with the committee and what its key areas of focus are likely to be following the events of this summer.

Yours sincerely

The Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology