Starting today, UK tech companies have until March 17, 2025 to comply with media regulator Ofcom’s new rules and guides for the Online Safety Act. 

This new set of laws mandates that all search engines, games and social media sites allowing users to post content online or interact with each other must reduce the risk that their products are used for illegal activity. Their other goal is to protect kids from harmful and inappropriate content. Ofcom is the independent regulator of the Online Safety Act, and will assess and enforce compliance.

Today, Ofcom laid out more than 40 safety measures for platforms to introduce starting in March. They include naming a senior person accountable for enforcing compliance and reporting on safety; providing more training for moderation teams; establishing performance targets to ensure they’re removing illegal content quickly; and creating account settings that protect kids from sexual abuse online. Ofcom also expects platforms that facilitate content-sharing to use automated tools to detect child sexual abuse material. 

Ofcom says it’s getting ready to take action against non-compliance. It has the power to issue fines of up to US$22 million, or 10% of a company’s qualifying worldwide revenue (whichever is greater). And in “very serious” cases, it can apply for a court order to block a site in the UK. 

The regulator based its guidelines on more than 200 responses received from parents, nonprofit orgs and tech companies during a consultation phase. Ofcom has also released a report encapsulating feedback and suggestions that came in from kids themselves, such as by-default account settings that make it harder for people to interact with underage users, and providing them with better info about what their account settings do when they try to change them. 

Next up, the media watchdog has just begun to look into technologies that may be helpful in restricting content that promotes child sexual abuse and terrorism. Submissions are welcome by March 10. 

And Ofcom plans to roll out additional guides in January, February and April that set standards for protecting girls and women from online abuse, and reducing kids’ exposure to content that promotes cyberbullying and self-harm.