Online Safety Act 2023 (c. 50) – Section 110 – Senior managers’ liability: information offences

Sections

Section 110Senior managers’ liability: information offences

(1) In this section “an individual named as a senior manager of an entity” means an individual who, as required by an information notice, is named as a senior manager of an entity in a response to that notice (see section 103).

(2) An individual named as a senior manager of an entity commits an offence if—

(a)
the entity commits an offence under section 109(1) (failure to comply with information notice), and
(b)
the individual has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that offence being committed.

(3) It is a defence for an individual charged with an offence under subsection (2) to show that the individual was a senior manager within the meaning of section 103 for such a short time after the information notice in question was given that the individual could not reasonably have been expected to take steps to prevent that offence being committed.

(4) An individual named as a senior manager of an entity commits an offence if—

(a)
the entity commits an offence under section 109(3) (false information), and
(b)
the individual has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that offence being committed.

(5) An individual named as a senior manager of an entity commits an offence if—

(a)
the entity commits an offence under section 109(4) (encrypted information), and
(b)
the individual has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that offence being committed.

(6) An individual named as a senior manager of an entity commits an offence if—

(a)
the entity commits an offence under section 109(5) (destruction etc of information), and
(b)
the individual has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that offence being committed.

(6A) [^F1 An individual named as a senior manager of an entity commits an offence if—

(a)
the entity commits an offence under section 109(6A) (deletion etc of information), and
(b)
the individual has failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent that offence being committed.]

(7) It is a defence for an individual charged with an offence under subsection (4), (5) [^F2, (6) or (6A)] to show that the individual was not a senior manager within the meaning of section 103 at the time at which the act constituting the offence occurred.

(8) It is a defence for an individual charged with an offence under this section to show that the individual had no knowledge of being named as a senior manager in a response to the information notice in question.

(9) See also section 201 (supplementary provision about defences).

Amended text

This Section is shown as amended by Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (see the annotations below), as incorporated in the text in force on 19 September 2026 as published on legislation.gov.uk.

Annotations

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 110(6A) inserted (30.9.2025) by Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 124(6)(a), 142(1); S.I. 2025/982, reg. 2
F2 Words in s. 110(7) substituted (30.9.2025) by Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 124(6)(b), 142(1); S.I. 2025/982, reg. 2

Commencement Information

I1 S. 110 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 240(1)
I2 S. 110 in force at 10.1.2024 by S.I. 2023/1420, reg. 2(z11)

https://osa.digiphile.law/article/article-110.html

Text as at 19 September 2026.

This is an unofficial convenience version of the Online Safety Act 2023. It is presented “as is” without guarantee of accuracy, completeness or reliability. See the source text for the official version. This site was last updated in September 2026.