Section 59“Illegal content” etc

(1) This section applies for the purposes of this Part.

(2) “Illegal content” means content that amounts to a relevant offence.

(3) Content consisting of certain words, images, speech or sounds amounts to a relevant offence if—

(a)
the use of the words, images, speech or sounds amounts to a relevant offence,
(b)
the possession, viewing or accessing of the content constitutes a relevant offence, or
(c)
the publication or dissemination of the content constitutes a relevant offence.

(4) “Relevant offence” means—

(a)
a priority offence, or
(b)
an offence within subsection (5).

(5) An offence is within this subsection if—

(a)
it is not a priority offence,
(b)
the victim or intended victim of the offence is an individual (or individuals), and
(c)
the offence is created by this Act or, before or after this Act is passed, by—
- (i)
  another Act,
- (ii)
  an Order in Council,
- (iii)
  an order, rules or regulations made under an Act by the Secretary of State or other Minister of the Crown, including such an instrument made jointly with a devolved authority, or
- (iv)
  devolved subordinate legislation made by a devolved authority with the consent of the Secretary of State or other Minister of the Crown.

(6) But an offence is not within subsection (5) if—

(a)
the offence concerns—
- (i)
  the infringement of intellectual property rights,
- (ii)
  the safety or quality of goods (as opposed to what kind of goods they are), or
- (iii)
  the performance of a service by a person not qualified to perform it; or
(b)
it is an offence under [^F1Chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024].

(7) “Priority offence” means—

(a)
an offence specified in Schedule 5 (terrorism offences),
(b)
an offence specified in Schedule 6 (offences related to child sexual exploitation and abuse), or
(c)
an offence specified in Schedule 7 (other priority offences).

(8) “Terrorism content” means content that amounts to an offence specified in Schedule 5.

(9) “CSEA content” means content that amounts to an offence specified in Schedule 6.

(10) “Priority illegal content” means—

(a)
terrorism content,
(b)
CSEA content, and
(c)
content that amounts to an offence specified in Schedule 7.

(10A) [^F2 “Intimate image content” means content that amounts to an offence under section 66B(1), (2) or (3) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sharing intimate image of a person without consent).]

(11) For the purposes of determining whether content amounts to an offence, no account is to be taken of whether or not anything done in relation to the content takes place in any part of the United Kingdom.

(12) References in subsection (3) to conduct of particular kinds are not to be taken to prevent content generated by a bot or other automated tool from being capable of amounting to an offence (see also section 192(7) (providers’ judgements about the status of content)).

(13) Subsection (14) applies in relation to a regulated user-to-user service (but, in the case of a combined service, does not apply in relation to the search content of the service).

(14) References to “illegal content”, “terrorism content”, “CSEA content” [^F3, “priority illegal content” and “intimate image content”] are to be read as—

(a)
limited to content within the definition in question that is regulated user-generated content in relation to the service, and
(b)
including material which, if it were present on the service, would be content within paragraph (a) (and this section is to be read with such modifications as may be necessary for the purpose of this paragraph).

(15) In this section—

“devolved authority” means—
- (a)
  the Scottish Ministers,
- (b)
  the Welsh Ministers, or
- (c)
  a Northern Ireland department;
“devolved subordinate legislation” means—
- (a)
  an instrument made under an Act of the Scottish Parliament,
- (b)
  an instrument made under an Act or Measure of Senedd Cymru, or
- (c)
  an instrument made under Northern Ireland legislation;
“Minister of the Crown” has the meaning given by section 8 of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 and also includes the Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;
“offence” means an offence under the law of any part of the United Kingdom.

(16) See also section 192 (providers’ judgements about the status of content).

Amended text

This Section is shown as amended by Crime and Policing Act 2026; Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (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 Words in s. 59(6) substituted (6.4.2025) by Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (c. 13), s. 339(1), Sch. 21 para. 13(2) (with ss. 235, 243, 252); S.I. 2025/272, reg. 2(1)(12)
F2 S. 59(10A) inserted (29.6.2026) by Crime and Policing Act 2026 (c. 20), ss. 100(8), 255(1); S.I. 2026/689, reg. 2(1)(j)
F3 Words in s. 59(14) substituted (29.6.2026) by Crime and Policing Act 2026 (c. 20), ss. 101(6), 255(1); S.I. 2026/689, reg. 2(1)(j)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 59 in force at Royal Assent, see s. 240(4)(h)

https://osa.digiphile.law/article/article-59.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.