header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

The Online Safety Act: too little, too late?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2025. All Rights Reserved.
22 March 2024 / Thomas Rudkin , Emily Costello
Issue: 8064 / Categories: Features , Cyber , Cybercrime , Technology , Privacy , Criminal , Artificial intelligence
printer mail-detail
164871
A timely step in the right direction or a late arrival? Thomas Rudkin & Emily Costello share their verdict on the Online Safety Act
  • The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out criminal offences relating to malicious online activity, including cyberflashing, revenge porn, and threatening communications.
  • ‘Deepfakes’ and the rapid rise of online communications have brought these offences to public attention recently. Has the Act come at the right time to address new technologies—including those yet to come—or has the damage already been done?

The long-awaited Online Safety Act 2023, says the government, aims to make the UK ‘the safest place in the world to be online’. Whether the Act meets this aim is yet to be seen, with most provisions yet to come into force. However, it contains ambitious new provisions and obligations that have the potential to change the legal landscape dramatically. One of the ways it does this is by creating a litany of new criminal offences.

From 31 January

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Big tech for small firms
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
NLJ this week: Presumption of capacity reaffirmed
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
NLJ this week: Justice delayed, justice denied
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
NLJ this week: The road ahead for employment rights
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
NLJ this week: SLAPPed shut?
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll