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04 October 2024 / Claire Cross , Eve Campbell
Issue: 8088 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Technology , Media
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Illegal content: internet crackdown?

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The Online Safety Act 2023 aims to tackle illegal content. Claire Cross & Eve Campbell explain the new duties on service providers
  • Explores the new duties placed on user-to-user and search services in respect of illegal content, following the introduction of the Online Safety Act 2023.
  • Explains the new risk assessment duty, which will come into force when Ofcom has finalised its guidance on illegal content risk assessments.
  • Highlights the challenge for service providers in addressing the grey areas and untested boundaries of what constitutes illegal or harmful online content.

Last October the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) finally entered the UK statute book. Focusing on two key types of internet services—user-to-user and search services—OSA 2023 aims to make the internet safer for all by placing duties on service providers to identify, mitigate and manage risks of harm arising from illegal content and activities, as well as those posing particular risks to children.

A user-to-user service allows people to create and share content online, as

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Chief information officer appointment strengthens technology leadership

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Firm strengthens Wilmslow team with two solicitor appointments

DWF—Ian Plumley

DWF—Ian Plumley

Londoninsurance and reinsurance practice announces partner appointment

NEWS
The Supreme Court has delivered a decisive ruling on termination under the JCT Design & Build form. Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Singer KC and Jonathan Ward, of Kings Chambers, analyse Providence Building Services v Hexagon Housing Association [2026] UKSC 1, which restores the first-instance decision and curbs contractors’ termination rights for repeated late payment
Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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