UK OSA Section 12(5), Ofcom Children's Safety Codes of Practice
Provide easy-to-find, easy-to-use reporting mechanisms appropriate for child users to report harmful content, with a complaints procedure
Where this comes from
Provision: Section 12(5), Ofcom Children's Safety Codes of Practice
Instrument: UK Online Safety Act 2023
Citation: Online Safety Act 2023, c. 50, Section 12(5); Ofcom Children's Safety Codes of Practice (December 2024), Chapter 9 (Reporting and complaints)
Text version: Online Safety Act 2023 c. 50, as enacted (legislation.gov.uk)
Who it applies to
Children in scope — all of these:
- Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18
User-to-user content surface — any one of these:
- Service allows user-generated content
- Service enables direct messaging between users
What engineering work it implies
- Compliance Audit Logging SystemCovers part of it
Implement comprehensive audit logging for regulatory compliance with tamper-evident records.
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Users can submit a report from the content/profile in context
- Each report gets an identifier and a tracked status through to resolution
- Reporters and affected users are notified of the outcome where required
- Report volumes and outcomes are captured for any required transparency reporting
- Submitting a report creates a tracked case with a reference
Questions people ask
- Does UK OSA Section 12(5), Ofcom Children's Safety Codes of Practice apply to my service?
- It applies when Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; and at least one of: Service allows user-generated content; Service enables direct messaging between users.
- From when does this apply?
- UK OSA Section 12(5), Ofcom Children's Safety Codes of Practice applies from 16 December 2024. Its current status is: in force.
- What engineering work does this imply?
- Typically: Compliance Audit Logging System.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.