UK Online Safety Act: Difference between revisions

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Background: More background details. Still work in progress.
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Background: added William Perrin's ties to both Ofcom and Carnegie UK and the lack of a conflict of interest investigation. - should this be its own section?
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The Online Safety Act is a "Bill to make provision for and in connection with the regulation by [[OFCOM]] of certain internet services; for and in connection with communications offences; and for connected purposes."<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2024-08-19 |title=Online Safety Act 2023 |url=https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3137 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=UK Parliament: Parliamentary Bills}}</ref>
The Online Safety Act is a "Bill to make provision for and in connection with the regulation by [[OFCOM]] of certain internet services; for and in connection with communications offences; and for connected purposes."<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2024-08-19 |title=Online Safety Act 2023 |url=https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3137 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=UK Parliament: Parliamentary Bills}}</ref>


The Online Safety Act received royal assent on 26 October 2023, following five years of work by [[Carnegie UK]], working in concert with over 50 partners. In 2018, Carnegie UK published a series of blogs by [[William Perrin]] and [[Professor Lorna Woods]], outlining the proposal for social media regulation. The UK Government published its [https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper White Paper] on 8 April 2019, tackling online harm, with a duty of care approach at its core. Carnegie UK ended their work on the Online Safety Act in October 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davidson |first=Sarah |date=26 October 2023 |title=Online safety and Carnegie UK |url=https://carnegieuk.org/blog/online-safety-and-carnegie-uk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250701203854/https://carnegieuk.org/blog/online-safety-and-carnegie-uk/ |archive-date=2025-07-01 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=Carnegie UK}}</ref>
The Online Safety Act received royal assent on 26 October 2023, following five years of work by [[Carnegie UK]], working in concert with over 50 partners. In 2018, Carnegie UK published a series of blogs by [[William Perrin]] and [[Professor Lorna Woods]], outlining the proposal for social media regulation. The UK Government published its [https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper White Paper] on 8 April 2019, tackling online harm, with a duty of care approach at its core. Carnegie UK ended their work on the Online Safety Act in October 2023.<ref name="online-safety-and-carnegie-uk">{{Cite web |last=Davidson |first=Sarah |date=26 October 2023 |title=Online safety and Carnegie UK |url=https://carnegieuk.org/blog/online-safety-and-carnegie-uk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250701203854/https://carnegieuk.org/blog/online-safety-and-carnegie-uk/ |archive-date=2025-07-01 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=Carnegie UK}}</ref>


The bill was sponsored by [[Michelle Donelan]], the (now former) Conservative MP for Chippenham and [[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay]], a current member of the House of Lords. Both on behalf of the [[UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport]]. <ref name=":4" />
The bill was sponsored by [[Michelle Donelan]], the (now former) Conservative MP for Chippenham and [[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay]], a current member of the House of Lords. Both on behalf of the [[UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport]]. <ref name=":4" />
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[[OFCOM]], the UK's Office of Communications, is the regulator for the Online Safety Act. {{Ph-I-B}}
[[OFCOM]], the UK's Office of Communications, is the regulator for the Online Safety Act. {{Ph-I-B}}
[[William Perrin]] has also assisted in creation of [[OFCOM]] <ref>{{Cite web |title=William Perrin - International Institute of Communications |url=https://www.iicom.org/profile/william-perrin/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250817131102/https://www.iicom.org/profile/william-perrin/ |archive-date=2025-08-17 |access-date=2025-08-17 |website=iicom.org}}</ref>. Due to the Ofcom having to handle the Online Safey Act and [[William Perrin]]'s ties to both Carnegie UK and Ofcom, this would be subject to a conflict of interest investigation however due to Carnegie UK stopping their work with the Online Safey Act <ref name="online-safety-and-carnegie-uk" />, such investigations never took place.


==The impact==
==The impact==