--- title: "UK Online Safety Act Deadlines and Compliance Calendar" canonical_url: "https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/deadlines-and-compliance-calendar" source_url: "https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/deadlines-and-compliance-calendar" author: "Sorena AI" description: "Grounded UK Online Safety Act calendar covering 26 October 2023 enactment, 31 January 2024 offences, 16 December 2024 illegal harms codes." published_at: "2026-02-21" updated_at: "2026-02-21" keywords: - "UK Online Safety Act deadlines" - "24 July 2025 children risk assessment" - "16 March 2025 illegal risk assessment" - "section 81 17 January 2025" - "deadlines" - "compliance calendar" - "Ofcom milestones" - "children risk deadline" --- **[SORENA](https://www.sorena.io/)** - AI-Powered GRC Platform [Home](https://www.sorena.io/) | [Solutions](https://www.sorena.io/solutions) | [Artifacts](https://www.sorena.io/artifacts) | [About Us](https://www.sorena.io/about-us) | [Contact](https://www.sorena.io/contact) | [Portal](https://app.sorena.io) --- # UK Online Safety Act Deadlines and Compliance Calendar Grounded UK Online Safety Act calendar covering 26 October 2023 enactment, 31 January 2024 offences, 16 December 2024 illegal harms codes. *Calendar* *Implementation Milestones* ## Deadlines and Compliance Calendar Use the live implementation sequence, not an undated roadmap. The calendar matters because the regime did not switch on all at once. Different duties and codes arrived in stages. The UK OSA timeline is operationally important because the assessment and control duties arrived in waves. Teams that do not separate the illegal harms, provider pornography, children access, children risk, and category phases will mis-sequence controls and evidence. ## Core enacted and early implementation dates The Act passed on 26 October 2023. Criminal offences introduced by the Act came into effect on 31 January 2024. These early milestones matter because they set the baseline for enforcement culture and service awareness before the main codes landed. Treat them as the start of the regime, not historical background only. - 26 October 2023: Act passed into law - 31 January 2024: criminal offences took effect - 11 September 2024: Ofcom approach to small but risky services referenced by government ## Illegal harms and children rollout dates The illegal harms codes were approved after being laid on 16 December 2024 and Ofcom published illegal risk assessment guidance the same day. Government materials state that illegal risk assessments were due by 16 March 2025 and that Ofcom could enforce from 17 March 2025. For children, January 2025 brought age assurance guidance for online pornography and the section 81 commencement on 17 January 2025. Child access assessments were due by 16 April 2025. Children risk assessments were due by 24 July 2025 after the child safety codes were laid on 24 April 2025. - 16 December 2024: illegal harms codes and guidance published - 16 March 2025: illegal content risk assessment deadline - 17 January 2025: section 81 duty in force - 16 April 2025: children access assessment deadline - 24 April 2025: child safety codes laid and risk guidance published - 24 July 2025: children risk assessment deadline ## Category and strategic-priority milestones Threshold regulations for categories were laid on 16 December 2024. The government expected Ofcom to publish the register of categorised services in summer 2025 and to consult on additional duties from early 2026. The Statement of Strategic Priorities was designated on 2 July 2025 and should be tracked because it shapes Ofcom focus on safety by design, age assurance, and small but risky services. - 16 December 2024: category thresholds laid - 2 July 2025: strategic priorities statement designated - summer 2025: expected register of categorised services - early 2026: expected consultation on additional category duties *Recommended next step* *Placement: after the timeline or milestone section* ## Turn Deadlines and Compliance Calendar into an operational assessment Assessment Autopilot can take Deadlines and Compliance Calendar from planning deadlines, owners, and milestones from this page to a reusable workflow inside Sorena. Teams working on Deadlines and can keep owners, evidence, and next steps aligned without copying this guide into separate documents. - [Open Assessment Autopilot for Deadlines and Compliance Calendar](/solutions/assessment.md): Start from Deadlines and Compliance Calendar and turn the guidance into owned tasks, evidence requests, and review checkpoints. - [Talk through Deadlines and](/contact.md): Review your current process, evidence gaps, and next steps for Deadlines and Compliance Calendar. ## Primary sources - [Online Safety Act explainer](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer?ref=sorena.io) - Current government implementation status, deadlines, and plain language explanation of the regime. - [Statement of Strategic Priorities for Online Safety](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-strategic-priorities-for-online-safety?ref=sorena.io) - July 2025 strategic priorities for Ofcom, including safety by design, age assurance, and small but risky services. - [Explanatory Memorandum to the Statement of Strategic Priorities](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67aff474a4075fa7b985194c/Explanatory_Memorandum_to_the_Statement_of_Strategic_Priorities_for_Online_Safety.pdf?ref=sorena.io) - Consultation and policy context for the July 2025 strategic priorities statement. ## Related Topic Guides - [UK Online Safety Act Age Assurance Options | Age Estimation, Verification, and Child Access Controls](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/age-assurance-options.md): Grounded age assurance guide for the UK Online Safety Act covering January 2025 pornography guidance, highly effective age assurance. - [UK Online Safety Act Applicability Test | Regulated Service, Exemptions, and UK Scope](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/applicability-test.md): Grounded UK Online Safety Act applicability test covering regulated user-to-user and search services, Schedule 1 exemptions, provider pornography scope. - [UK Online Safety Act Checklist | Scope, Risk, Child Safety, Moderation, and Evidence](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/checklist.md): Audit-ready UK Online Safety Act checklist covering service scope, illegal risk assessment, child access and child risk assessment, moderation, complaints. - [UK Online Safety Act Children Safety Duties | Child Access, Child Risk, and Age Assurance](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/children-safety-duties.md): Grounded guide to UK Online Safety Act children safety duties covering section 81 timing, children access assessments, children risk assessments. - [UK Online Safety Act Compliance Program | Governance, Controls, and Ofcom Readiness](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/compliance.md): Program design guide for UK Online Safety Act compliance covering governance, scope, assessments, moderation, age assurance, complaints, metrics. - [UK Online Safety Act Content Moderation and Appeals | Complaints, Terms Enforcement, and Redress](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/content-moderation-and-appeals.md): Grounded guide to UK Online Safety Act moderation and appeals requirements covering sections 21, 32, 71, and 72, complaints design, terms enforcement. - [UK Online Safety Act Enforcement and Penalties | Ofcom Notices, Penalties, and Escalation](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/enforcement-and-penalties.md): Grounded UK Online Safety Act enforcement guide covering Ofcom information notices, senior manager naming, confirmation decisions. - [UK Online Safety Act FAQ | Scope, Child Duties, Categories, and Ofcom Enforcement](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/faq.md): Practical FAQ on the UK Online Safety Act covering who is in scope, what changed in 2025, child access and risk assessments, age assurance, category duties. - [UK Online Safety Act Illegal Content Duties | Illegal Harms, Priority Offences, and Risk Assessments](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/illegal-content-duties-explained.md): Grounded guide to UK Online Safety Act illegal content duties covering user-to-user and search services, illegal content risk assessments. - [UK Online Safety Act Penalties and Fines | GBP 18 Million, 10 Percent Revenue, and Liability](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/penalties-and-fines.md): Grounded penalty guide for the UK Online Safety Act covering the GBP 18 million or 10 percent worldwide revenue cap. - [UK Online Safety Act Requirements | Sections, Deadlines, Controls, and Evidence](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/requirements.md): Detailed UK Online Safety Act requirements guide mapping scope, illegal content duties, child safety duties, terms enforcement, complaints, categorisation. - [UK Online Safety Act Risk Assessment Template | Illegal Content and Child Safety Template](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/online-safety-risk-assessment-template.md): Practical UK Online Safety Act risk assessment template covering service profile, harms inventory, controls, residual risk, child access, child safety. - [UK Online Safety Act Risk Assessments Playbook | How to Run Illegal and Children Risk Reviews](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/risk-assessments-playbook.md): Operational playbook for UK Online Safety Act risk assessments covering sequencing, ownership, evidence collection, control design. - [UK Online Safety Act Service Scope and Categorization | Category 1, 2A, 2B, and Part 3 Logic](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/service-scope-and-categorization.md): Grounded service scope and categorisation guide for the UK Online Safety Act covering Part 3 logic, likely to be accessed by children, Category 1, 2A. - [UK Online Safety Act vs EU Digital Services Act | Scope, Child Safety, and Enforcement Differences](/artifacts/uk/online-safety-act/online-safety-act-vs-dsa.md): Practical comparison of the UK Online Safety Act and the EU Digital Services Act covering regulated service models, illegal content frameworks. --- [Privacy Policy](https://www.sorena.io/privacy) | [Terms of Use](https://www.sorena.io/terms-of-use) | [DMCA](https://www.sorena.io/dmca) | [About Us](https://www.sorena.io/about-us) (c) 2026 Sorena AB (559573-7338). 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