Online Safety Act 2023

215 Power to regulate app stores U.K.

(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section and section 216, the Secretary of State may by regulations amend any provision of this Act to make provision for or in connection with the regulation of internet services that are app stores.

(2) Regulations under this section may not be made before OFCOM have published a report under section 161 (report about use of app stores by children).

(3) Regulations under this section may be made only if the Secretary of State, having considered that report, considers that there is a material risk of significant harm to an appreciable number of children presented by either of the following, or by both taken together—

(a) harmful content present on app stores, or

(b) harmful content encountered by means of regulated apps available in app stores.

(4) Before making regulations under this section the Secretary of State must consult—

(a) persons who appear to the Secretary of State to represent providers of app stores,

(b) persons who appear to the Secretary of State to represent the interests of children (generally or with particular reference to online safety matters),

(c) OFCOM,

(d) the Information Commissioner,

(e) the Children’s Commissioner, and

(f) such other persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(5) In this section and in section 216—

• “amend” includes repeal and apply (with or without modifications);

• “app” includes an app for use on any kind of device, and “app store” is to be read accordingly;

• “content that is harmful to children” has the same meaning as in Part 3 (see section 60);

• “harmful content” means—

  (a)

  content that is harmful to children,

  (b)

  search content that is harmful to children, and

  (c)

  regulated provider pornographic content;

• “regulated app” means an app for a regulated service;

• “regulated provider pornographic content” has the same meaning as in Part 5 (see section 79);

• “search content” has the same meaning as in Part 3 (see section 57).

(6) In this section and in section 216 references to children are to children in the United Kingdom.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 215 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 240(1)

I2 S. 215 in force at 10.1.2024 by S.I. 2023/1420, reg. 2(z31)