Category: Online Safety

A new Telecommunications Charter is set to be signed today at the iconic BT Tower in London, which will hopefully dramatically reduce the amount of scam calls everyone receives, and for those that do get through, make it obvious what number the caller is using. Many scam callers use number spoofing to imitate a UK […]

Ofcom is seeking feedback on more rules around how providers handle spam messages sent to mobiles. The aim being to both make it harder for the spammers to operate but also to force all mobile operators to do more to root out spammers who are active. If you get sent spam SMS messages today you […]

Regulator Ofcom has this morning provided an update of its enforcement activity under the controversial Online Safety Act. In total it has begun 21 investigations (into 69 web sites and apps) and 5 enforcement programmes. The update covers 11 of these investigations. File-sharing services Ofcom launched an enforcement programme in March 2025 against file-sharing services […]

We’ve written about the Age Checks in the Online Safety Act and how VPN sign-ups boomed after the introduction of age checks on websites with content which shouldn’t be accessible to children. We even suggested that privacy-aware users over 18 may wish to consider using a VPN to avoid risking their personal identity data being […]

At least 22 porn sites run by five different companies are now under investigation by Ofcom as to whether the sites are in compliance with the Online Safety Act. The investigations centre around whether sites are compliant with their duty to stop children encountering pornographic content, with age assurance being used to only allow over-18s […]

According to the Telegraph (via Yahoo! News), lawyers in the U.S. are intending to summon the UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom to a U.S. court to answer over its attempts to ‘censor Americans’. “A legal complaint, filed in Washington, DC, by Ron Coleman, a New York-based lawyer, aims to bar Ofcom from attempting to enforce the […]

Ofcom has opened a consultation on super-complaints under the Online Safety Act, including the criteria for the bodies which will be able to submit them to the regulator. What are super-complaints? They are a type of complaint which eligible organisations are able to make to Ofcom which places specific requirements on Ofcom to respond within […]

The Online Safety Act that gained Royal Assent in 2023 is keeping Ofcom busy. The latest company to be added to the growing list of firms under investigation is Duplanto Ltd. This brings the total to five investigations underway looking into porn site providers with relation to age checks. With some firms running multiple sites […]

The Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has told BBC Newsnight that she believes VPNs should be required to verify the age of anyone subscribing to their service. This follows the massive uptake of VPN services following the Online Safety Act’s age verification requirements kicking in. The website 4chan yesterday told Ofcom where to stick […]

The battle is warming up with regards to the Online Safety Act, as 4chan has responded to the provisional notice of contravention that Ofcom issued to the sites operator recently. “Provisional Decision: Information Notice duties In accordance with section 130 of the Online Safety Act 2023, we have today issued 4chan Community Support LLC with […]