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UK Online Safety Act Scope, Duties, and Implementation

Decide whether a service is covered, which provider duties apply, which deadlines have passed, and what evidence Ofcom can expect under the UK Online Safety Act 2023.

Start with the UK Online Safety Act applicability test

By Sorena AIBased on UK OSA, GOV.UK, Ofcom, and ICO materialsUpdated 24 July 2026

Implementation focus

UK OSA

Scope and exclusions

Part 3 covers UK-linked user-to-user and that are not exempt for the relevant functionality. Part 5 separately covers UK-linked services publishing or displaying .

Live deadlines

Existing in-scope Part 3 services faced the 16 March 2025 illegal-content risk-assessment deadline, 16 April 2025 children's access-assessment deadline, and, where likely accessed by children, 24 July 2025 children's risk-assessment deadline. The related safety duties took effect on 17 March and 25 July 2025. New or changing services must use event-based timing, not copy those historic dates.

Evidence and enforcement

Treat issued Ofcom codes as a statutory compliance route, not the only lawful design. If a provider uses different measures, it must keep the required record and show how those measures meet the underlying duties.

Formal categories

Ofcom published the first Category 1, 2A, and 2B register on 30 June 2026 and updated it on 10 July 2026. Use the registered service part for additional duties; an internal threshold calculation or inclusion on the emerging Category 1 list is not formal categorisation.

Use the timeline for legal status and dates, then follow the grouped guides from scope to duties, evidence, and regulator readiness.

Key dates

26 Oct 2023

Act passed

16 Mar 2025

Illegal risk deadline

24 Jul 2025

Child risk deadline

30 Jun 2026

First category register

What you can decide faster

Scope and service model

Map user-to-user, search, and provider-pornography functionality; apply the UK-link test; then check Schedule 1 and other service-specific exemptions.

Duty sequencing

Separate duties that apply broadly from duties triggered by likely child access, provider pornography, or Ofcom categorisation.

Ofcom readiness

Keep risk assessments, control decisions, terms enforcement, complaints, records, and information-notice responses tied to the affected service.

Illegal harms

Child safety

Age assurance

Publication details

Editorial metadata for this artifact

Author

Sorena AI

Published

Feb 21, 2026

Updated

Jul 16, 2026

The Act covers more than social media. It can reach UK-linked and , including providers based outside the UK, plus services that publish . Core Part 3 duties do not depend on company size or formal categorisation. Start with service scope and exemptions, then apply the risk, child-access, content, and category tests in order.

Online Safety Timeline

Key dates for UK OSA implementation

Distinguish Royal Assent and commencement instruments from Ofcom codes, completed assessment deadlines, enforceable duties, and the first category register published on 30 June 2026 and updated in July.

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Choose the next Online Safety Act decision

New to the Act? Start with service scope and the UK-link test. If scope is already documented, move directly to risk and child-access assessments, implementation evidence, deadlines, or Ofcom readiness.

Start here: service scope and classification

Identify the regulated service, relevant UK links, exempt or disapplied functionality, and formal category status before assigning duties to a service part.

UK Online Safety Act Applicability Test Guide

Test whether a service is covered by the UK Online Safety Act by checking service functionality, UK links, exemptions, and the duties that follow.

UK Online Safety Act Scope, Duties, and Implementation

Key dates for UK OSA implementation

Choose the next Online Safety Act decision

Start here: service scope and classification

Risk assessments and safety duties

Implementation, complaints, and evidence

Deadlines, reporting, and enforcement

Compare regimes or answer a focused question

Assign the applicable Online Safety Act duties and evidence