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Centre for Commercial Law Studies

Online Safety Act

Online Safety Act - The Requirements Unpacked

This course offers a structured analysis to provide you with a good working knowledge of Online Safety.

Do you need to get to grips with the new online safety regulation? Here is a focused course for you - all in one place, all in five evenings!

Regulation - Protection - Compliance

Leading experts discuss and illustrate the regulatory and protection requirements under the Online Safety Act 2023.

Key information

When: 4 - 8 November from 16:45 - 21:00

Location: The TMT Law Institute at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, 67-69 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JB

Fee: £1800 + VAT (catering and reading materials included)

We offer 3 full scholarships for charities. Please submit a supporting statement of no more than 200 words describing your charity's impact on the community no later than 2nd October 2024 to ccls-exec-ed@qmul.ac.uk. The outcome will be announced by 10th October.

Course description and aims

Ofcom estimates that more than 100,000 online services will be within scope of the new rules. This number encompasses businesses of all sizes from micro- to medium to large businesses.[1] The reach of the Online Safety Act goes beyond “the” big tech search engines and social media companies, and the regulation will impact diverse platforms, online services and apps.

It affects a range of different businesses and services, in addition to search engines and social media companies, including video-platforms, online forums, online gaming, e-commerce platforms, technology providers, news and media businesses, political apps & platforms, online gaming, dating apps, direct messaging apps, online meeting platforms and pornography providers.

Furthermore, the Act has extraterritorial reach to cover those that have links to the UK as defined in the Act and contains provisions requiring blocking of content or payment, thereby impacting access and payment services. It also raises questions about safety technologies and age-assurance technologies and their accreditation and use by platforms. Finally, it raises questions about the safety of interactions on encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp, as well as the safety of encryption itself.

[1] Ofcom’s Approach to Implementing the Online Safety Act, 26. October 2023, see https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/270215/10-23-approach-os-implementation.pdf

Delivery Format

Mode of Delivery

The regulatory requirements are illustrated by examples and case-studies. The mode of delivery is a mixture of presentations by experts in the fields, panel & audience discussions, as well as interactive case-studies.

Topics Covered

This course covers an overview of online safety regulation, who is within scope, the new online safety duties in respect of content harmful to children and illegal content duties, including special measures against Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Materials and Terrorism Content. It covers the secondary duties related to transparency, record-keeping and reporting. The Course will analyse the latest Ofcom Guidelines and Ofcom’s Enforcement Powers under the Act. Additionally, it analyses the requirements for content moderation and, the use of accredited and pro-active technology, as well as regulated entities’ obligations to protect freedom of speech and privacy. It looks at the duties to protect content of democratic importance, journalistic content, and news publisher content. Moreover, it covers how adults’ safety is treated, and the issue of user-identification, for example on dating sites. Furthermore, sessions will be dedicated to the new obligations in respect of advertising scams and fraud prevention, the dissemination of disinformation, and the regulation of pornography and dating services. We examine the requirements for age assurance. Finally, we cover the new criminal offences in the Online Safety Act.

Learning Objectives

This course will provide you with a structured analysis of the provisions of the Act and associated guidance, giving you a good working knowledge of Online Safety.

  • You will understand compliance obligations and be able to apply them in different sectors.
  • You will be able to critically assess the protection afforded and what this means for users and victims of abuse and crime.
  • You will discuss the balance between freedom of speech and the safety duties and what this means for modern media.

Participants

This course is ideal for:

  • social media, user-to-user platforms or search
  • anyone providing messaging and online meeting services,
  • developers of technology used for content moderation or age-assurance,
  • the advertising industry,
  • journalists, news and media organisations,
  • influencers,
  • children’s charities,
  • those fighting disinformation online,
  • police officers,
  • lawyers advising victims of harassment, bullying and image-based sexual abuse, and assisting clients with reputation management.

 

Course Structure

1. Illegal Content and the Online Safety Duty - Monday 4 November

  • Arrive 16:45 
    • Registration and tea and coffee
  • 17:00 - 17:15
    • Overview of the new safety requirements
  • 17:15 - 18:00
    • Panel Discussion: The new safety requirements in respect of illegal content- how to implement them?
  • 18:15 - 19:00
    • Presentation and Discussion: Duties in respect of preventing the advertising of scams.
  • 19:00 - 19:30
    • Light refreshments
  • 19:30 - 20:45
    • Presentation and Discussion: Content moderation technologies and the accredited technologies in respect of CSEAM and terrorism content.

2. Children and the Online Safety Duty - Tuesday 5 November

  • Arrive 16:45 
    • Registration and tea and coffee
  • 17:00 - 17:15
    • Overview of the new safety requirements
  • 17:15 - 18:00
    • Three Case Studies: The new child safety requirements- how to implement? What protection do they provide?
  • 18:15 - 19:00
    • Presentation and Discussion: Age-assurance technologies and how they work in practice.
  • 19:00 - 19:30
    • Light refreshments
  • 19:30 - 20:45
    • Presentation and Discussion: How to create child-safe spaces and resources online; reporting and verification systems.

3. Adults and the Online Safety Duty - Wednesday 6 November

  • Arrive 16:45 
    • Registration and tea and coffee
  • 17:00 - 17:15
    • Overview: Obligations to help adults to stay safe
      • User choice
      • Terms
      • Transparency
      • User identification
      • Use of proactive technologies
  • 17:15 - 18:00
    • Expert Interview
  • 18:15 - 19:00
    • Presentation and Discussion: Case-study dating websites
  • 19:00 - 19:30
    • Light refreshments
  • 19:30 - 20:15
    • Presentation and Discussion: Case-study reputation management; fighting cyber-bullying and image-based sexual abuse; helping victims to remove images/prevent their upload; hash-technology
  • 20:15 - 20:45
    • The Pornography Industry

4. Who is in Scope? Ofcom's Enforcement Powers - Thursday 7 November

  • Arrive 16:45 
    • Registration and tea and coffee
  • 17:00 - 17:15
    • Overview: Who is in scope/outside scope?
  • 17:15 - 18:00
    • Panel discussion on scope
  • 18:15 - 19:00
    • Presentation and Discussion: Ofcom’s enforcement powers and compliance; blocking content, apps and payment; secondary obligations such as record-keeping; transparency reporting
  • 19:00 - 19:30
    • Light refreshments
  • 19:30 - 20:45
    • Presentation and Discussion: Three case-studies enforcement powers:
      • Extraterritorial reach
      • Encryption
      • Ofcom's relationship with NCA
      • Notification of crime

5. The New Criminal Offences: News Privilege, Freedom of Expression and Privacy - Friday 8 November

  • Arrive 16:45 
    • Registration and tea and coffee
  • 17:00 - 17:15
    • Overview: Provisions in the Act about news content providers, content of democratic importance and journalistic content, freedom of expression and privacy
  • 17:15 - 18:15
    • Expert Interview: The treatment of newsworthy speech and debate?
  • 18:15 - 19:00
    • Presentation and Discussion: The new criminal offences in the Online Safety Act - what is their significance for media regulation?
  • 19:00 - 19:30
    • Light refreshments
  • 19:30 - 20:30
    • Presentation and Discussion: Media literacy and adult users; disinformation and misinformation
  • 20:30 - 20:45
    • Feedback and Course Evaluation/Close

 

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