{"id":416,"date":"2025-03-19T08:19:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T09:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/?p=416"},"modified":"2025-03-20T11:43:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T11:43:01","slug":"new-online-safety-laws-take-effect-is-your-startup-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/new-online-safety-laws-take-effect-is-your-startup-ready\/","title":{"rendered":"New online safety laws take effect \u2013 is your startup ready?"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

In 2023, the UK\u2019s Online Safety Act came into force. Introduced by the UK\u2019s communications regulator Ofcom, the Act contains a set of rules around online content that many <\/span>tech startups<\/span><\/a> and small businesses need to comply with.<\/span><\/p>\n

Firms have already had to carry out a risk assessment, to understand how likely it is that users could encounter illegal content on their service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From Monday, online platforms offering user-to-user services, such as messaging sites and gaming apps, are now also legally required to start implementing measures to take down illegal content. The changes could have big repercussions for technology startups.<\/span><\/p>\n

If companies fail to comply with these new rules, they will be liable to penalties of up to \u00a318 million, or 10% of their global revenue. Here\u2019s what startups need to know.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the new rules for startups?<\/h2>\n

As part of the new regulations, platforms will have to start implementing appropriate measures to remove illegal material quickly when they become aware of it and to reduce the risk of \u2018priority\u2019 criminal content from appearing in the first place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What this looks like in practice will differ depending on the business. Some measures are recommended only for \u2018large services\u2019 with more than seven million monthly active UK users.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ali Hall is the Online Safety Supervision Principal at Ofcom. Speaking exclusively to Startups, Hall acknowledges this disparity. \u201cThe definition of \u2018appropriate measures\u2019 for removing illegal content will really depend on the online service in question \u2013 what\u2019s right for a social media platform with millions of users, won\u2019t be the same for a small community forum\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, certain measures apply across the board. Hall says the first step for eligible businesses is to <\/span>assign someone to be responsible<\/span><\/a> for online safety in the business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, he adds that terms and conditions should clearly outline what kind of materials are prohibited and that content is reviewed efficiently, including the removal of any illegal materials that breach terms and conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, users should have the ability to report any inappropriate material. That means businesses need a process in place to handle complaints.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules are proportionate and we expect different things from large, high-risk services and small, low-risk services,\u201d says Hall. \u201cThe key requirement is that online services have systems and processes to take down illegal content swiftly, once it has been identified.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How much will it cost businesses?<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no exact cost for implementing the new rules, as this will differ depending on the process each business takes. However, for budget-conscious startups, there are some cost-effective ways to adapt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hall suggests using <\/span>Ofcom\u2019s online toolkit<\/span><\/a>, which includes an interactive, step-by-step guide on the new rules, as well as tailored recommendations for a business\u2019s online service. He also stresses that there is no specific way to respond to the Online Safety Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our recommended safety measures are \u2018principles-based\u2019, meaning that there\u2019s flexibility about how you implement them,\u201d says Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnline services should enable users to submit complaints. [But] some services may offer a web portal or \u2018help centre\u2019, while small or low-risk services may simply provide an email address through which users can submit reports or complaints.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What do startups need to do now?<\/h2>\n

In terms of immediate deadlines, businesses are required to carry out a <\/span>children\u2019s access assessment<\/span><\/a> to establish if their service (or part of it), is likely to be accessed by under-18s.<\/span><\/p>\n

If this is the case, companies will have until the <\/span>16th of April<\/b> to start this assessment, and it <\/span>must be completed by July<\/b> this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Further responsibilities include ensuring that risk assessments are up to date (Hall recommends reviewing them at least every 12 months) and carrying out a new evaluation if you plan to make significant changes to your services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are foundational steps that everyone should follow \u2013 but if your service is large or high risk, there will be more to do,\u201d Hall said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy now, everyone running an online service in the scope of the Act should have completed the first illegal content risk assessment. That will help decide if you\u2019re at higher risk and whether you should consider more of our recommended safety measures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSmall tech platforms are crucial for growth\u201d<\/h2>\n

Understanding and implementing practices around new <\/span>safety legislation<\/span><\/a> can be a serious red-tape headache for tech startups. However, Ofcom says it is making it easier for businesses to remain innovative while still being compliant with the new rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSmall tech platforms are crucial for economic growth in the UK and we want to support that through proportionate regulation,\u201d Hall states. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re producing resources and tools to help make the compliance process easier.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the penalties also sound harsh, Hall adds that Ofcom isn\u2019t setting out to make things harder for tech startups, many of which are already struggling to scale due to the challenges of today\u2019s poor economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we also know that harm can exist on the smallest services as well as the largest,\u201d he says \u201cWe intend to focus our enforcement on services where the risk and impact of harm is highest [and] will only take action where it is proportionate and appropriate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The post New online safety laws take effect \u2013 is your startup ready?<\/a> appeared first on Startups.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2023, the UK\u2019s Online Safety Act came into force. Introduced by the UK\u2019s communications regulator Ofcom, the Act contains a set of rules around online content that many tech startups and small businesses need to comply with. Firms have already had to carry out a risk assessment, to understand how likely it is that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalroofingintallahassee.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}