Tech Secretary Liz Kendall is “deeply concerned” with Ofcom’s delays in implementing the next set of duties of the Online Safety Act.
Writing to Ofcom’s chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes, Kendall stressed that the regulator must operate with an “urgent sense of momentum” in its implementation of certain duties of the act.
Ofcom has already enforced elements of the legislation, including those referring to hosting illegal content online and protecting children from “harmful” content.
The tech secretary has, however, expressed concern that other duties, including “user empowerment”, have been delayed.
The legislation, in addition to illegal harms and the protection of children, places further duties on service providers that can be fit into certain categories, based on, for example, number of users.
The highest level, Category 1, requires firms to adopt duties such as user verification, greater transparency and user empowerment.
Kendall said: “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.
“Ofcom will continue to have the government’s full backing to use all its powers to ensure that services are putting users’ safety first and I continue to urge you to look at where you can expedite your processes, and the user empowerment duties specifically.”
