Artifact GuideUKTransparency Reporting

UK Online Safety Act Transparency Reporting

Transparency reporting is an annual Ofcom-notice duty for Category 1, 2A, and 2B providers, not a universal report required from every regulated service.

This guide explains the notice process, permitted subject matter, 2026 implementation position, publication, corrections, and supporting data controls.

Author
Sorena AI
Published
May 9, 2026
Updated
Jul 24, 2026
Questions
3

Structured answer sets in this page tree.

Primary sources
6

Cited legal and guidance references.

Publication metadata
Sorena AI
Published May 9, 2026
Updated Jul 24, 2026
Overview

A provider must prepare a when Ofcom gives it a section 77 notice as the provider of a relevant categorised service. The notice sets the information, reporting period, form, manner, and deadline. Schedule 8 limits the matters Ofcom may request. Keep this process separate from other Ofcom information notices.

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3 of 3 questions
Question 1

Who must report and when?

Section 77 requires Ofcom, once a year, to give every provider of a a . A relevant service is a Category 1, Category 2A, or Category 2B service. The provider must produce and publish the report by the date and in the manner specified in the notice.

Ofcom published final transparency guidance in July 2025 and its categorised-services register in June 2026, updated in July. Ofcom's implementation roadmap says categorised services will publish their first transparency reports in 2027 and that a further timeline update will follow the register. Providers should use the actual notice as the controlling deadline rather than infer a date from an older roadmap.

  • Confirm that the named service and provider match the current Ofcom register and the notice.
  • Extract every request, definition, reporting period, unit, disaggregation, format, publication method, and deadline into a controlled requirements table.
  • Escalate ambiguity during Ofcom's draft-notice process and preserve correspondence and the final position.
Citations
Online Safety Act 2023

Creates the annual notice, report, publication, and timing framework for relevant categorised services.

Ofcom - Roadmap to regulation

Current implementation roadmap stating that first categorised-service transparency reports are due in 2027 and that timing will be updated.

Question 2

What can the notice require?

Schedule 8 lists possible subjects. They include the incidence and dissemination of illegal content and content harmful to children; systems for risk assessment, reporting, complaints, moderation, user support, age assurance, and compliance; the use and effect of algorithms; cooperation with public authorities; staff and resourcing; and other listed safety and governance matters.

The notice determines which permitted matters apply to the service. Do not assume that every Schedule 8 item will be required, or substitute a voluntary environmental, social, and governance report. Where a requested figure cannot be measured directly, document the method, limitations, estimation, and quality checks rather than presenting an unsupported number as exact.

  • Assign each requested item to a data owner and an accountable approver.
  • Define the numerator, denominator, event, service part, geography, age group, content taxonomy, and treatment of duplicates before querying data.
  • Retain reproducible queries, source-system versions, exclusions, manual adjustments, samples, reconciliations, and explanations of uncertainty.
Citations
Question 3

How should publication and corrections be controlled?

Treat the public report as a regulated output. Review it for consistency with risk assessments, terms, complaints data, published policies, prior submissions, and the actual service. Preserve approvals, the publication URL and time, the exact published file, accessibility checks, and evidence that it remained available as required.

If an error is found, assess materiality, notify the responsible legal and reporting owners, preserve the original, and follow the notice and Ofcom guidance for correction or communication. Do not overwrite the record without a dated explanation. A transparency report does not replace records that Ofcom may request under other powers.

  • Run privacy, security, legal, and statistical-disclosure review without suppressing information the notice requires.
  • Use stable metric definitions across reporting cycles and explain genuine methodology changes.
  • Keep an issue log for late source data, weak controls, disagreements, corrections, and remediation.
Citations
Primary sources

References and citations

ofcom.org.uk
Referenced sections
  • Current implementation roadmap stating that first categorised-service transparency reports are due in 2027 and that timing will be updated.
legislation.gov.uk
Referenced sections
  • Requires production and publication in accordance with Ofcom's notice.
legislation.gov.uk
Referenced sections
  • Lists the matters that may be included in transparency notices.
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