Ofcom will require online service providers, from large platforms to smaller sites, to submit their illegal harms risks assesstments by the end of March or face enforcement action.

Under the UK regulator’s new powers under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom is launchig an enforcement programme to assess industry compliance with its first set of duties under the act.

Ofcom first published its illegal harms codes of practice and guidance on 16 December, giving providers three months to carry out a risk assessment.

Providers must determine how likely it is that users could encounter illegal content on their service, or, in the case of user-to-user services, how they could be used to commit or facilitate certain criminal offenses.

They must also make and keep a written record of their risk assessment, including details about how it was carried out and its findings.

The launching of Ofcom’s enforcement programme will aim to scrutinise the compliance of sites and apps that may present particular risks of harm for illegal content due to their size or nature.

A number of providers of services have been issued with requests from Ofcom today, which they must reply to by 31 March with their completed records of their illegal harms risk assessments.

Once these are recieved, Ofcom will assess any gaps in these assessments, using this data to drive improvements, as well as develop new measures for its codes of practice.

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Ofcom reminded providers of their legal requirement to report to Ofcom in a complete and timely manner – the regulator is empowered to issue fines for up to 10% of a company’s turnover or £18m, whichever figure is higher. In serious cases, Ofcom can petition a court to block UK access to a site in the most severe of cases.

“Regardless of size or location, all services in scope of the Online Safety Act must carry out a proper illegal harms risk assessment – a vital first step in protecting their users and making their platforms safer by design,” Suzanne Cater, enforcement director at Ofcom, said.

“We’ve identified a number of online services that may present particular risks of harm to UK users from illegal content – including large platforms as well as smaller sites – and are requiring them to provide their illegal harms risk assessment to us this month. We’re ready to take swift action against any provider who fails to comply.”