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Arthur T Knackerbracket [soylentnews.org] writes:

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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story [siliconrepublic.com]:

The OSA was passed in 2023, however, specific child-safety duties and codes for online sites were finalised earlier this year. 

The UK internet and telecoms regulator Ofcom has opened nine new investigations into websites for potentially breaching the country’s Online Safety Act (OSA).

Of the nine, First Time Videos, a pornography website, will be probed over possibly failing to protect children from accessing mature content through effective age assurance methods.

“Robust” age checks under the OSA mandate that websites that allow porn and other harmful content must make sure children cannot access it.

Age verification and estimation needs to be “highly effective” under the law. According to the regulator, First Time Videos appears not to have taken the legally required steps to ensure age assurance.

While online discussion board 4chan will be investigated for potentially failing to respond to Ofcom’s legal requests for information and to conduct illegal content risk assessments on its website.

4chan’s provider received a formal information notice from the regulator in April this year, which it has not yet responded to, the regulator said.

Ofcom is also investigating seven file-sharing websites, including Krakenfiles, Im.ge and Yolobit, over whether they failed to protect UK users from encountering illegal content and activity such as child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The telecoms regulator opened an enforcement programme earlier this year, assessing measures that file-sharing websites have taken to protect users from CSAM.

It sent a request for information to the sites in April, and has not received a response from any of the seven file-sharing sites.

In addition, Ofcom also received complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity on 4chan and the possibility of CSAM being shared on the file-sharing websites.

The OSA came into force in 2023 [siliconrepublic.com], however, specific child-safety duties and codes for online sites were finalised earlier this year.

According to the regulator, sites where users can see content shared by others, such as social media, should assess the risk of UK users coming across illegal content and activity.

The websites under investigation are liable for fines of up to £18m or 10pc of their qualifying global revenue if they are found non-complaint. Ofcom can also force the websites to withdraw from the UK or block access in the country.

From the end of July, search websites, or websites were users interact with each other’s content, need to start implementing safety measures to protect children from harmful material, including content that promotes suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or dangerous challenges.

Earlier this year, Ofcom fined OnlyFans’ operator £1.05m [siliconrepublic.com] for failing to provide accurate information about the age assurance measures it had in place on the adult-only platform.

Original Submission