Despite the UK’s apparent hard stance to defend the OSA, Trump has suggested that there’s a “very good chance” the US will make a deal with the UK to preserve an allyship that both countries will expect to be critical to maintaining tech dominance.
Ofcom promises “swift action”
Ofcom said that all platforms have until March 31 to send completed risk assessments and should be prepared today “to start implementing appropriate measures to remove illegal material quickly when they become aware of it, and to reduce the risk of ‘priority’ criminal content from appearing in the first place.” Those reports will be posted on Ofcom’s site to ensure transparency and accountability.
Platforms were asked to make removing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) the top priority after the Internet Watch Foundation flagged the most CSAM in its history last year—uncovering over 290,000 webpages containing CSAM in 2024.
Moving forward, Ofcom will be monitoring compliance, “launching targeted enforcement action where we uncover concerns,” their announcement said. Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s enforcement director, previously promised “swift action,” and Ofcom appears prepared to deliver on that promise.
“We will not hesitate to open investigations into individual services,” Ofcom said, forecasting, “we expect to make additional announcements on formal enforcement action over the coming weeks.”
Ofcom chief executive Melanie Dawes told FT that “there will be some [websites] who we need to take strong action against and we’re gearing up for that now so that we can be really fast.”
But regarding X’s expected compliance, Dawes just said that Ofcom would “make sure that X follows the rules that have been set down in the act” and takes action in 2025 to remove more content that Musk’s platform may currently not take down, preferring to merely reduce reach of posts considered “awful but lawful.” UK safety advocates have suggested that X may need to build out its child safety team to remove more content, The Telegraph reported.
Ofcom did not respond to Ars’ request to comment on whether Ofcom currently has concerns about X or any other big platforms’ compliance, only re-sharing information from the press release regarding top priorities as enforcement begins.
“We are initially prioritizing the compliance of sites and apps that may present particular risks of harm from illegal content due to their size or nature—for example because they have a large number of users in the UK, or because their users may risk encountering some of the most harmful forms of online content and conduct,” Ofcom’s spokesperson said.
