Online Safety Act 2023 (c. 50) – Section 160 – OFCOM’s report about reporting and complaints procedures

Sections

Section 160OFCOM’s report about reporting and complaints procedures

Prospective (not yet in force)

legislation.gov.uk marks this Section as prospective as at 19 September 2026: it has been enacted but not yet brought into force. The text is shown as enacted.

(1) OFCOM must produce a report assessing the measures taken or in use by providers of Part 3 services to enable users and others to—

(a)
report particular kinds of content present on such services, and
(b)
make complaints to providers of such services.

(2) OFCOM’s report must take into account the experiences of users and others in reporting content and making complaints to providers of Part 3 services, including—

(a)
how clear the procedures are for reporting content and making complaints,
(b)
how easy it is to do those things, and
(c)
whether providers are taking appropriate and timely action in response to reports and complaints that are made.

(3) The report must include advice from OFCOM about whether they consider that the Secretary of State should make regulations under section 217 (duty about alternative dispute resolution procedure).

(4) In the report, OFCOM may make recommendations that they consider would improve the experiences of users and others in reporting content or making complaints to providers of Part 3 services, or would deliver better outcomes in relation to reports or complaints that are made.

(5) In preparing the report under this section, OFCOM must consult—

(a)
the Secretary of State,
(b)
persons who appear to OFCOM to represent the interests of United Kingdom users of Part 3 services,
(c)
persons who appear to OFCOM to represent the interests of children (generally or with particular reference to online safety matters),
(d)
the Information Commissioner, and
(e)
such other persons as OFCOM consider appropriate.

(6) The report may draw on OFCOM’s research under section 14 of the Communications Act (see subsection (6B) of that section).

(7) The report is not required to address any matters which are the subject of a report by OFCOM under section 158 (report about the availability and treatment of news publisher content and journalistic content).

(8) OFCOM must publish the report within the period of two years beginning with the day on which this section comes into force.

(9) OFCOM must send a copy of the report to the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State must lay it before Parliament.

(10) The Secretary of State must publish a statement responding to the report within the period of three months beginning with the day on which the report is published, and the statement must include a response to OFCOM’s advice about whether to make regulations under section 217.

(11) The statement must be published in such manner as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for bringing it to the attention of persons who may be affected by it.

(12) For further provision about the report under this section, see section 164.

(13) References in this section to “users and others” are to United Kingdom users and individuals in the United Kingdom.

Pending amendment (not yet in force)

legislation.gov.uk records the following amendment(s) to this Section that had not been brought into force on 19 September 2026 and are therefore not reflected in the text above:

s. 160(5)(d): words substituted by S.I. 2026/386, Sch. 2, para. 26(1), para. 26(2)(k) (comes into force (a) at the same time as the provision specified in the corresponding entry in Column 2 of that table is fully brought into force; or (b) when section 119 of the 2025 Act is fully brought into force,whichever is the later.); commencement: reg. 1(3) Sch. 1

Note: Under reg. 1(3) and Schedule 1 of S.I. 2026/386 this amendment comes into force when section 160(5)(d) of the Online Safety Act 2023 is fully brought into force, or on 30 September 2026 (when section 119 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 was fully brought into force), whichever is later; section 160 is not yet in force.

Annotations

Commencement Information

I1 S. 160 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 240(1)

https://osa.digiphile.law/article/article-160.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.