The House of Lord's Inquiry on the Online Safety Act: implementation and impact

While the Online Safety Act (OSA) marked a substantial step forward in addressing digital harms, and despite ongoing efforts to address these challenges, significant gaps remain in its ability to protect users from exploitation and abuse. As ever increasingly innovative methods of circumvention emerge, the complexity of monitoring and enforcing standards in these spaces presents significant hurdles, especially when it comes to safeguarding children and vulnerable individuals online.

Recommendations

• Third-party assessment in regulated sectors: Ofcom should convene an independent expert committee that includes police, technology developers (in an independent capacity) and regulators to assess other regulated sectors to achieve a continuous, auditable technical assurance.
• Future proofing legislation: There needs to be flexibility in legislation, technology moves faster than primary legislation may have foreseen, by including secondary legislation that allows for regulation to address gaps in the OSA by providing powers to Ofcom and the Secretary of State.
• Working with industry experts and stakeholders: The Government and regulators must work with cross-sector industry experts to ensure that new technologies are safer by design and continue to consult with a range of stakeholders to assess new and emerging harms.