Online Safety Act 2023

10 Safety duties about illegal content

(1) This section sets out the duties about illegal content which apply in relation to regulated user-to-user services (as indicated by the headings).

All services

(2) A duty, in relation to a service, to take or use proportionate measures relating to the design or operation of the service to—

(a) prevent individuals from encountering priority illegal content by means of the service,

(b) effectively mitigate and manage the risk of the service being used for the commission or facilitation of a priority offence, as identified in the most recent illegal content risk assessment of the service, and

(c) effectively mitigate and manage the risks of harm to individuals, as identified in the most recent illegal content risk assessment of the service (see section 9(5)(g)).

(3) A duty to operate a service using proportionate systems and processes designed to—

(a) minimise the length of time for which any priority illegal content is present;

(b) where the provider is alerted by a person to the presence of any illegal content, or becomes aware of it in any other way, swiftly take down such content.

(4) The duties set out in subsections (2) and (3) apply across all areas of a service, including the way it is designed, operated and used as well as content present on the service, and (among other things) require the provider of a service to take or use measures in the following areas, if it is proportionate to do so—

(a) regulatory compliance and risk management arrangements,

(b) design of functionalities, algorithms and other features,

(c) policies on terms of use,

(d) policies on user access to the service or to particular content present on the service, including blocking users from accessing the service or particular content,

(e) content moderation, including taking down content,

(f) functionalities allowing users to control the content they encounter,

(g) user support measures, and

(h) staff policies and practices.

(5) A duty to include provisions in the terms of service specifying how individuals are to be protected from illegal content, addressing each paragraph of subsection (3), and (in relation to paragraph (a)) separately addressing terrorism content, CSEA content (see section 59 and Schedule 6) and other priority illegal content.

(6) A duty to apply the provisions of the terms of service referred to in subsection (5) consistently.

(7) A duty to include provisions in the terms of service giving information about any proactive technology used by a service for the purpose of compliance with a duty set out in subsection (2) or (3) (including the kind of technology, when it is used, and how it works).

(8) A duty to ensure that the provisions of the terms of service referred to in subsections (5) and (7) are clear and accessible.

Additional duty for Category 1 services

(9) A duty to summarise in the terms of service the findings of the most recent illegal content risk assessment of a service (including as to levels of risk and as to nature, and severity, of potential harm to individuals).

Interpretation

(10) In determining what is proportionate for the purposes of this section, the following factors, in particular, are relevant—

(a) all the findings of the most recent illegal content risk assessment (including as to levels of risk and as to nature, and severity, of potential harm to individuals), and

(b) the size and capacity of the provider of a service.

(11) In this section “illegal content risk assessment” has the meaning given by section 9.

(12) See also, in relation to duties set out in this section, section 22 (duties about freedom of expression and privacy).