LONDON — The U.K. government issued this week a circular to inform the police and other relevant public authorities of new criminal offenses resulting from the Online Safety Act, some of which will affect adult websites.
The announcement alerts law enforcement bodies to newly criminalized practices, including the handling of CSAM, intimate image abuse and extreme pornography incidents, as defined by the Online Safety Act.
Media regulator Ofcom discussed the same topics in its illegal harms consultation, published in November. That consultation contains proposals about measures services can take to address those harms.
“These include the requirement to use CSAM hash matching if you have a certain number of U.K. users, and the requirement to report CSAM to the National Crime Agency (NCA),” an Ofcom rep explained.
Ofcom is encouraging adult businesses to provide feedback on its proposals through the ongoing illegal harms consultation, which ends Feb. 23.
Ofcom is also conducting a separate consultation regarding age assurance, also known as age verification.
The illegal harms consultation can be accessed through Ofcom.org.uk.
Ofcom has also made an infographic available to “pornography services,” outlining the relevant parts of the consultation:
For more information, visit Ofcom.org.uk.