Implementation of the UK Online Safety Act

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United Kingdom's Online Safety Act 2023 is a set of laws that claims to protect children and adults online. The act applies to search services and services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other.

The act requires all affected websites to implement their own solution for identity verification to prove one's age. There is no official government-sanctioned identity verification platform. Each service provider must implement their own solution or find a third party solution to use to remain compliant.

While the press release says "the measures platforms have to put in place must confirm your age without collecting or storing personal data, unless absolutely necessary," the legislation requires that companies track usage by specific people and provide data and/or remote access to Ofcom on demand (Section 100)

Enforcement of this act is done by the UK's Office of Communications (Ofcom). The penalty for breaking these rules is the greater of £18 million and 10% of the person’s qualifying worldwide revenue (Schedule 13.4).

Background

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Websites affected

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OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk

OnlineSafetyAct.co.uk is operated by Neil Brown, a UK tech lawyer (decoded.legal). It lists all of the websites affected by the Online Safety Act, with the help of user submissions.

YouTube

Main article: Youtubes Requirement for Government ID

On July 30, 2025, YouTube responded by announcing its verification system, requesting users for either a government-issued ID, a photo, or credit card, in order to show that users are 18 and older. Age will be estimated through various information, including videos watched, and would lock users flagged below 18 unless they send one of aforementioned proofs.

Wikipedia

The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) sued the United Kingdom to prevent them from forcing age checks on their websites. The WMF made a statement that being forced to comply with this act would compromise the privacy of its editors and the neutrality of the encyclopedia. On August 11, 2025, the London High Court denied the WMF's reasoning, but didn't necessarily force age checks for the website.

Consumer response

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United Kingdom saw an increased VPN usage by 1400 percent. As of August 16, 2025, there has been at least 500 thousand signatures petitioning to repeal the act.

Government response

Ofcom discouraged the promotion of VPNs.

UK Parliament considers all petitions that get more than 100,000 signatures for debate. On 28 July 2025, when the petition to repeal the act had about 400,000 signatures, the government responded with this message: "The Government has no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act, and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the Act as quickly and effectively as possible to enable UK users to benefit from its protections.", only a few days after coming into force. This was only after three days (25 July 2025) the "highly effective age assurance" requirement came into force.

The technology minister Peter Kyle said on Good Morning Britain, "if you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. Not those who want to keep children safe."