Correspondence

Implementation and enforcement of the Online Safety Act: follow up letter from DSIT Secretary of State to Ofcom

Published 12 November 2025

The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
22-26 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2EG

12 November 2025

Dear Dame Melanie,

Thank you for your letter of 4 November responding to my letter and setting out Ofcom’s plans in respect of categorised duties, implementing the fee regime, and tackling antisemitism online.

Additional duties on categorised services

Earlier today, you published your updated online safety implementation roadmap setting out the implementation milestones for the remainder of this year and throughout 2026.  

While I understand the need to ensure the regime is robust, I would like to express my deep disappointment in the delays to the overall implementation of additional duties on categorised services that have been set out in Ofcom’s roadmap. As I made clear when we met and in my subsequent letter of 27 October, we should not be willing to accept delay: the Online Safety Act was a long time coming and people across the country have been waiting too long for the protections it brings.

I am pleased that Ofcom has reverted to the original timelines for delivery of the Terms of Service duties, but the job is not yet done. We need to maintain an urgent sense of momentum to implement the remaining duties and ensure that we are maximising the levers that the Act provides. 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.

Regardless of the timetable I trust that Ofcom will set clear expectations for services that services do not need to wait and should be implementing these important protections for their users as quickly as possible. I also note your intention to publish a further report in early December providing an assessment of the response of industry to the new illegal content and child safety duties. I fully support Ofcom doing comprehensive monitoring of the effectiveness of the Act so there is a clear evidence base of where further action is needed.

Tackling antisemitism

As you know, I am deeply concerned about the spread of antisemitic content.  The Prime Minister has been clear that dealing with this is a priority for this government. I welcome the specific steps you have outlined including driving compliance with existing codes of practice, iterating these with additional measures to tackle hateful content and targeted discussions with platforms during periods of crisis or extreme tension. I note that further detail will be available in December when you publish your Online Safety Annual Report. I look forward to engaging with this report and to continue working with you to tackle all forms of hateful content online. 

As noted in my letter of 27 October, Ofcom should do everything possible under the Act to tackle antisemitic content and hate speech online. Further to this, I want to emphasise the vital role of effective enforcement in supporting this aim. We need to see progress in tackling this egregious, divisive and hateful content online.

Fees

Thank you for detailing how Ofcom considered proportionality and risk when developing its approach to the fee regime. I welcome your willingness to engage in a review of the fee regime to ensure the regime does not place undue burdens on safe and responsible businesses. It is imperative that the fee regime is implemented in a proportionate manner. My officials will be in touch to discuss the next steps as we look to start progressing this discussion next year. 

I will separately write to confirm my position on the revenue threshold and Ofcom’s proposed exemption. My officials are ready to engage with Ofcom on driving forward progress across each of these important issues.

Yours sincerely

The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology