The Online Safety Act 2023: What Businesses Need to Know

Britain's digital landscape faces unprecedented change with the arrival of the Online Safety Act 2023. It places significant new legal obligations on online businesses — including social media platforms, search engines, and websites that host user-generated content — regardless of their size or sector. 

In practical terms, the Act requires these businesses to assess risks related to illegal or harmful content, take steps to mitigate those risks, and put in place effective systems to protect minors.

The types of content targeted include pornography, material promoting self-harm or suicide, eating disorders, and other illegal content such as child sexual abuse material.Platforms must also enforce age limits for access to certain content and offer adults tools to manage their online experience, including filtering or restricting access to unwanted material.

These requirements apply to search engines as well as platforms hosting pornographic content, which are now obliged to carry out robust age verification.

The regulator Ofcom is responsible for implementing and enforcing the Act. It will issue codes of practice and compliance guidelines that businesses are expected to follow. Ofcom also has strong investigative and enforcement powers, including the ability to impose fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover for non-compliance.   In addition, some failures — particularly those relating to child protection or refusal to comply with enforcement notices — may lead to criminal penalties for individuals within companies.

Ultimately, the Act significantly shifts responsibility for online safety away from users and onto platforms themselves. Any business operating online must now take proactive steps to identify risks, update internal processes, and ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.