Overview
This resource is regulatory guidance issued by Ofcom under the UK Online Safety Act. It explains how online services must comply with duties relating to illegal content. While not an analytical tool, it is relevant to finance professionals assessing regulatory, legal, and operational risk exposure linked to digital platforms.
Organisation behind the tool
The guidance is developed and maintained by Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s statutory regulator for communications. Ofcom is responsible for implementing and enforcing the Online Safety Act, including setting expectations, monitoring compliance, and applying enforcement measures where required.
What the tool does
This guidance sets out how in-scope online services should comply with illegal content obligations under UK law. Key functions include:
- Explaining statutory duties related to identifying and mitigating illegal content risks.
- Outlining requirements for illegal content risk assessments.
- Describing expected governance, systems, and processes, including content moderation and safety-by-design measures.
- Clarifying documentation, record-keeping, and review obligations.
- Indicating Ofcom’s supervisory and enforcement approach.
- The resource is informational and does not provide datasets, analytics, or downloadable quantitative outputs.
Target audience
The primary audience is online service providers subject to the UK Online Safety Act, including user-to-user platforms and search services. Secondary audiences include legal advisers, compliance professionals, policymakers, and researchers analysing digital regulation.
Relevance to finance professionals
For finance professionals, the guidance supports analysis of regulatory and operational risk linked to digital business models:
- Risk assessment – identifies legal and enforcement risks associated with non-compliance, including potential fines and business restrictions.
- ESG analysis – informs social governance considerations, particularly platform responsibility, user safety, and regulatory conduct.
- Investment context – assists in evaluating regulatory exposure of technology, media, and platform companies operating in or affecting the UK.
- Governance review – provides benchmarks for assessing the adequacy of internal controls, oversight, and compliance frameworks.
The guidance is most relevant for due diligence, stewardship, and long-term risk evaluation rather than data-driven financial modelling.
