Online Safety Act 2023

20 Duty about content reporting U.K.

(1) This section sets out the duty about content reporting which applies in relation to all regulated user-to-user services.

(2) A duty to operate a service using systems and processes that allow users and affected persons to easily report content which they consider to be content of a kind specified below (with the duty extending to different kinds of content depending on the kind of service, as indicated by the headings).

All services

(3) Illegal content.

Services likely to be accessed by children

(4) Content that is harmful to children, present on a part of a service that it is possible for children to access.

Interpretation

(5) In this section “affected person” means a person, other than a user of the service in question, who is in the United Kingdom and who is—

(a) the subject of the content,

(b) a member of a class or group of people with a certain characteristic targeted by the content,

(c) a parent of, or other adult with responsibility for, a child who is a user of the service or is the subject of the content, or

(d) an adult providing assistance in using the service to another adult who requires such assistance, where that other adult is a user of the service or is the subject of the content.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (4), a provider is only entitled to conclude that it is not possible for children to access a service, or a part of it, if age verification or age estimation is used on the service with the result that children are not normally able to access the service or that part of it.

(7) See also—

(a) section 22 (duties about freedom of expression and privacy), and

(b) section 72(5)(a) (reporting of content that terms of service allow to be taken down or restricted).

Commencement Information

I1 S. 20 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 240(1)

I2 S. 20(1)-(6)(7)(a) in force at 10.1.2024 by S.I. 2023/1420, reg. 2(f)