British technology minister Liz Kendall has urged Ofcom to accelerate its rollout of Online Safety Act duties, warning that delays could weaken protections for users, particularly children and women and girls.
In a letter dated 12 November and published on GOV.UK, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology said she was “deeply disappointed” by Ofcom’s updated implementation roadmap, which pushes parts of the regime into 2026. “We should not be willing to accept delay: the Online Safety Act was a long time coming and people across the country have been waiting too long for the protections it brings,” Kendall wrote.
The letter added added: “I remain deeply concerned that delays in implementing duties, such as user empowerment, could hinder our work to protect women and girls from harmful content and protect users from antisemitism.”
Kendall’s intervention follows Ofcom’s phased enforcement of the law, which already covers the removal of illegal content and measures to protect children. The regulator plans to publish a register around July that categorises services, including those in the highest tier, Category 1, which face additional duties such as user verification, transparency and user empowerment.
Reuters reported that Ofcom said the delay was driven by factors beyond its control, including a legal challenge raising “complex issues.” An August case brought by the Wikimedia Foundation was dismissed by London’s High Court, though the judge left room for a further challenge if Ofcom designates Wikipedia as a Category 1 service.
Kendall told Ofcom’s chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes that the government backed the watchdog “to use all its powers to ensure that services are putting users’ safety first,” and pressed for specific acceleration of user empowerment duties. She also welcomed Ofcom reverting to its original timeline for terms of service duties and said services “should be implementing these important protections for their users as quickly as possible,” regardless of the final timetable.
Addressing antisemitism online, Kendall said: “As you know, I am deeply concerned about the spread of antisemitic content. The Prime Minister has been clear that dealing with this is a priority for this government.” She noted planned steps in Ofcom’s forthcoming Online Safety Annual Report and stressed “the vital role of effective enforcement.”
On fees, Kendall said she supported Ofcom’s proportional approach and willingness to review the regime to avoid undue burdens on “safe and responsible businesses,” with further discussions planned next year.
Free speech campaigners and some technology firms have warned that the Online Safety Act risks overreach and could chill lawful speech.
X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, said “many are now concerned that a plan ostensibly intended to keep children safe is at risk of seriously infringing on the public’s right to free expression,” arguing lawmakers made a “conscientious decision” to increase censorship and that Ofcom’s “heavy‑handed approach” could drive platforms to suppress legitimate content to avoid fines. The UK government has rejected the claim, saying the Act contains clear duties to protect freedom of expression as well as children’s safety.
Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch contends the regime effectively age‑gates large parts of the internet and deputises platforms to police speech, incentivising over‑removal of lawful content. Its analysis warns that intrusive age‑verification measures – including ID uploads and facial scans – raise privacy risks and could exclude users without identification, while a statutory duty to consistently enforce platform terms may embed “censorious, corporate policies” that are out of step with UK speech laws.
Ofcom says the rules require companies to tackle criminal content and stop children seeing defined harmful material, with no requirement to restrict legal content for adults. Services maintain they will comply, but warn the breadth of the regulatory reach and the scale of potential fines could have knock‑on effects for free expression.
