Source: Ofcom published on this website Monday 10 March 2025 by Jill Powell
User-to-user and search services must carry out an illegal content risk assessment. This is a legal obligation and requires service providers to assess the risks associated with priority offences and other illegal content on their services. Services must also make and keep a written record, in an easily understandable form, of all aspects of every illegal content risk assessment, including details about how the assessment was carried out and its findings.
On 16 December 2024, Ofcom published Risk Assessment Guidance and Risk Profiles to help service providers comply with the illegal content risk assessment duties. This guidance sets out a four-step risk assessment process, to help services comply with the illegal content risk assessment duties. We also published Record Keeping and Review Guidance to assist providers in meeting their record keeping and review duties.
In line with the illegal content risk assessment duties coming into force, we have decided to request records of the illegal content risk assessments from a number of providers of in-scope services. We will use the information services provide to identify possible compliance concerns, and to monitor how our illegal content risk assessment guidance and record keeping guidance are applied by industry.
We expect this programme to run for at least 12 months, during which time we may decide to open separate formal investigations if we have concerns that a service provider may not be meeting its duties under the Act. We will publish updates on progress at relevant points over this period.
