Commercial Awareness Compass
Behind the firewalls: The legal risks behind the Online Safety Act
George Cornell
Published Thu, 16 Oct
The UK’s Online Safety Act has officially come into force and with it, a sweeping overhaul of how digital platforms must operate. Tech companies are under pressure to redesign their systems and policies to comply, implementing mandatory age verification checks. Behind the political headlines lies a commercial and legal challenge that could expose platforms to multimillion-pound fines, reputational damage, and even criminal liability for senior executives.
This is a major shift not just in content moderation, but further about structural reform in how online platforms are built, managed and advised. With enforcement powers now in the hands of Ofcom, the room for error has all but disappeared.
What happens when technology moves faster than regulation? Can platforms ensure compliance without weakening user privacy? And how will lawyers need to navigate this growing tension?
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