HomeInsightsSelf-harm content: Government announces intention to designate as priority offence

The Government has announced that it will introduce new regulations to strengthen the Online Safety Act 2023 as it relates to content that “encourages or assists serious self-harm”.

Under the Online Safety Act, the Secretary of State is empowered to designate so-called ‘priority offences’, which reflect what are deemed to be the most serious and prevalent illegal content and activity, against with companies must take specific proactive measures. Already, these include content relating to, for example, child sexual abuse, terrorism, and selling illegal drugs or weapons. Last year, the sharing of intimate images without consent was added to the list of priority offences, as we commented upon here.

The effect of such a designation is that regulated services under the Act will be required to, among other things, take proportionate measures to prevent individuals from encountering content relating to self-harm in the first place, and to have proportionate systems in place to minimise the length of time during which such content is present.

Commenting on the proposals, the Government press release stated that “the change will trigger the strongest possible legal protections, compelling platforms to use cutting-edge technology to actively seek out and eliminate this content before it can reach users and cause irreparable harm, rather than simply reacting after someone has already been exposed to it”.

Precise details of the Statutory Instrument giving effect to this change have not yet been provided, but it is expected to be laid before Parliament in the autumn.

To read more, click here.