UK OSA Section 12(3) — Duties to mitigate and manage risks from priority content
Operate proportionate systems to mitigate and manage the risks of priority harmful content reaching children, with enhanced protections for higher-risk age groups
Where this comes from
Provision: Section 12(3) — Duties to mitigate and manage risks from priority content
Instrument: UK Online Safety Act 2023
Citation: Online Safety Act 2023, c. 50, Section 12(3); Schedule 7, Part 2 (Priority content); Ofcom Children's Safety Codes of Practice (December 2024)
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
- Youngest user age is Under 13, 13-15 or 16-17
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
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Process is documented and accessible
- Process steps are implemented in system
- Process outcomes are recorded
- Process can be audited
- Test: a full walkthrough of the process completes end-to-end
Questions people ask
- Does UK OSA Section 12(3) — Duties to mitigate and manage risks from priority content apply to my service?
- It applies when Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; Youngest user age is Under 13, 13-15 or 16-17; 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(3) — Duties to mitigate and manage risks from priority content applies from 16 December 2024. Its current status is: in force.
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.