Useful links
Official UK resources relevant to the interpretation, application and enforcement of the Online Safety Act 2023
Official United Kingdom sources specific to the Online Safety Act 2023 that a practitioner is likely to need day to day, grouped by type and ordered by likely usefulness. All links were checked on 29 October 2026, except seven on Ofcom’s website, which could not be opened that day or on 2, 3, 4 and 5 November 2026.
1. The legislation
- Online Safety Act 2023, latest available version on legislation.gov.uk legislation.gov.uk
- Online Safety Act 2023: Explanatory Notes legislation.gov.uk
- Crime and Policing Act 2026 (amends the Act; some provisions not yet in force) legislation.gov.uk
- Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (amends the Act) legislation.gov.uk
2. UK guidance
- Online safety regulatory documents and guidance: the current codes, risk assessment guidance, registers of risks, content guidance and enforcement guidance (Ofcom) ofcom.org.uk
- New rules for online services: what you need to know (Ofcom’s guide for services, last updated 13 June 2024) ofcom.org.uk
- Important dates for online safety compliance (Ofcom) ofcom.org.uk
- Ofcom’s approach to implementing the Online Safety Act: the roadmap (Ofcom; the expected dates it gives, such as July 2025 for the child protection duties, have not been updated: the important dates page above gives Ofcom’s current timings) ofcom.org.uk
- Statement: Protecting people from illegal harms online (Ofcom, 16 December 2024, updated; Ofcom notes that the page may be out of date and points to its regulatory documents page) ofcom.org.uk
- Statement: Protecting children from harms online (Ofcom, 24 April 2025) ofcom.org.uk
- Statement: Age assurance and children’s access (Ofcom, 16 January 2025) ofcom.org.uk
- Statement: New priority offences, serious self-harm and cyberflashing (Ofcom, 25 June 2026) ofcom.org.uk
- Online Safety Act: explainer (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) gov.uk
- Online Safety Act collection (GOV.UK) gov.uk
- Statement of strategic priorities for online safety (Secretary of State, section 172) gov.uk
3. Statutory codes of practice
- Illegal content Codes of Practice for user-to-user services (Ofcom, section 41; as amended: amendments issued 12 October 2026, in force from 2 November 2026) ofcom.org.uk
- Illegal content Codes of Practice for search services (Ofcom; as amended: amendments issued 9 September 2026, in force from 30 September 2026) ofcom.org.uk
- Protection of Children Code of Practice for user-to-user services (Ofcom; as amended: amendments issued 12 October 2026, in force from 2 November 2026) ofcom.org.uk
- Protection of Children Code of Practice for search services (Ofcom, issued 4 July 2025) ofcom.org.uk
4. Notification and reporting
5. Regulators and authorities
- Ofcom: online safety ofcom.org.uk
- Online Safety Enforcement Guidance (Ofcom, 20 March 2026) ofcom.org.uk
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (GOV.UK) gov.uk