Tracking Ofcom's quarterly bulletins Source · ofcom.org.uk 5 editions since Jan 2025 Online Safety Act 2023 (c. 50)

What Ofcom
has said this quarter about online safety.

A live board of Ofcom's Online Safety Industry Bulletins, plotted on the implementation timeline of the Online Safety Act 2023, with each edition mapped back to the Parts of the Act it actually moves.

5editions
Quarterly bulletins published
77/100
Top adult sites with age assurance
£18M/ 10%
Maximum fine under Section 143
30Apr
Big-six platforms reply deadline
§ 01 · The Implementation Clock

Bulletins, plotted against the Act coming alive.

Each large dot is an industry bulletin. The smaller dots are the statutory and enforcement milestones that bracketed them. The timeline runs from Royal Assent in October 2023 to the present.

→ Drag horizontally to explore
26 OCT 2023
Royal Assent
OSA enacted
01
21 JAN 2025
Bulletin #1
Year of action
17 MAR 2025
Phase 1 live
Illegal content duties
02
27 MAY 2025
Bulletin #2
First investigations
25 JUL 2025
Phase 2 live
Children's safety duties
03
9 SEP 2025
Bulletin #3
Age-check rollout
4 DEC 2025
First £1M fine
AVS Group, age checks
04
9 DEC 2025
Bulletin #4
2026 priorities set
05
17 MAR 2026
Bulletin #5
Demands to platforms
9 MAY 2026
You are here
Awaiting Bulletin #6
JUL 2026
Categorisation register
Cat 1 / 2A / 2B published
Industry bulletin
Major statutory milestone
Implementation moment
§ 02 · The Board

Five editions, five turning points.

Each card is a faithful summary of one bulletin: the headline message Ofcom communicated to industry, the concrete actions or deadlines announced, and the relevant Parts of the Online Safety Act being put into motion. The original is one click away.

21 Jan 2025
First edition
Edition 01 of 05

A year of action: Ofcom's 2025 priorities

The first bulletin sets the regulatory tone for the new regime. Ofcom signals where it expects rapid improvements, the specific steps services must take, and the support available through codes, guidance, and the inaugural Online Safety Act Explained virtual conference.

OSA Part 3 Part 5 Part 7 Risk assessments
  • Stronger governance. First illegal-content risk assessments due by 31 March 2025; named senior individual accountable for safety.
  • Highly effective age checks required to stop children encountering pornography, suicide, self-harm, and eating-disorder content.
  • 3-day virtual conference (3 to 5 February 2025) walking the duties and toolkit.
Read on ofcom.org.uk ↗
27 May 2025
Updated 2 Jun
Edition 02 of 05

First duties live, first investigations open

The first bulletin since two major parts of the Act became legal obligations. Ofcom analyses 60-plus risk assessments, opens its first formal investigations under the Act, and reports that publishers of pornography have committed to age assurance across more than 1,300 sites.

OSA Part 3 Part 5 Part 7 Enforcement
  • First investigations opened: Itai Tech (Undress.cc), Score Internet (Scoreland.com), and Kick Online (Motherless.com).
  • 16 March 2025 deadline for first illegal-content risk assessments; 16 April for children's access assessment.
  • Enforcement programmes on file-sharing CSAM measures and risk-assessment compliance launched in March 2025.
Read on ofcom.org.uk ↗
9 Sep 2025
Six weeks in
Edition 03 of 05

Six weeks in: sweeping change on age checks

Six weeks after the children's safety rules came into force on 25 July 2025, Ofcom reports a cascade of industry response: PornHub and many smaller adult sites deploying age checks, alongside Roblox, Reddit, and X announcing new measures across social, gaming, and messaging.

OSA Part 3 Part 5 Part 6 Recommender systems
  • Recommender systems identified as the main pathway for children to encounter suicide, self-harm, and eating-disorder content.
  • Fees regime moves forward: Statement on Online Safety Fees and Penalties published in June 2025; QWR consultation closed 10 September.
  • Age-check momentum: PornHub and the UK's biggest adult services begin live deployments.
Read on ofcom.org.uk ↗
9 Dec 2025
Year-end review
Edition 04 of 05

The 2025 stocktake and the 2026 priorities

A year-end edition anchored by Ofcom's first summary report on the technology sector's response to the new rules. New guidance on women and girls' online safety lands the same fortnight, and Ofcom sets out its 2026 industry priorities, statutory reports, and forward-look on requests.

OSA Part 3 Part 4 Part 6 Part 7 Women & girls
  • Online Safety in 2025 report (4 December): the regulator's first sector-wide assessment of compliance.
  • Women and girls guidance (25 November): nine areas where firms must act. 99% of deepfake intimate-image abuse depicts women.
  • 2026 industry priorities: stronger child protections, safer experiences for women and girls, clearer risk oversight. Risk assessments due 1 May to 31 July 2026.
Read on ofcom.org.uk ↗
17 Mar 2026
Latest · upd. 24 Mar
Edition 05 of 05

Public demands to the platforms children use most

The first bulletin to publicly name and direct the largest child-facing platforms. Ofcom writes to Facebook, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube with four explicit demands and a 30 April reply deadline. Adult-sector progress holds: 77 of the top 100 dedicated services now run age assurance.

OSA Part 3 Part 5 Part 7 Part 10 Big six platforms
  • Four public demands on the big six: enforce minimum-age rules with highly effective age checks, tackle grooming, make feeds safer, test products rigorously.
  • New priority offences from December 2025: cyberflashing and encouraging serious self-harm. Risk Profiles being updated.
  • 77/100 top adult sites have age assurance; a further 7 have geoblocked UK users (as of end Jan 2026).
  • Revamped compliance guide launched, informed by feedback from 50-plus small and medium services.
Read on ofcom.org.uk ↗
§ 03 · Recurring Threads

The themes Ofcom keeps coming back to.

Pattern recognition across the five bulletins. Each row of dots shows which editions raised the theme: a faded dot is silent, a solid dot is a substantive update. Useful for working out what "settled" practice looks like.

Highly effective age assurance
From legal requirement to live deployments across adult, social, gaming, and messaging services.
in
Stronger child protections
Recommender systems, grooming, content moderation, and minimum-age enforcement on the big six.
in
Women and girls online safety
From draft guidance in February 2025 to final guidance in November 2025. Nine areas, immediate expectation.
in
Risk assessments and accountability
Named senior individuals, sufficient-and-suitable assessments, and the pull-back of records under section 100 information notices.
in
Enforcement and investigations
From first information notices in March 2025 to the inaugural £1M fine on AVS Group in December 2025.
in
Fees and notification
QWR guidance, notification regime, Statement of Charging Principles. The financial scaffolding of the regime.
in
Categorisation regime
Cat 1 / 2A / 2B thresholds, register pushed to July 2026 after the Wikimedia challenge. Drives Part 4 transparency duties.
in
Priority offences expansion
Cyberflashing and encouraging serious self-harm upgraded to priority offences in December 2025; Risk Profiles to be updated.
in
§ 04 · Connecting the Dots

Each bulletin mapped to the Parts of the Act it activates.

The Online Safety Act 2023 is a 12-Part statute. The bulletins are how Ofcom signals which Parts it is animating that quarter, through codes, guidance, supervision, or enforcement. The grid below is a quick read of where each edition pushes the lever.

Part 3Duties of care Part 4Categorised duties Part 5Pornography Part 6Fees Part 7Ofcom powers Part 10Communications offences
Bulletin 0121 Jan 2025
Bulletin 0227 May 2025
Bulletin 039 Sep 2025
Bulletin 049 Dec 2025
Bulletin 0517 Mar 2026
Not raised
Mentioned
Substantive update
Major focus
How to read this

Part 3 (duties of care for user-to-user and search services) is the gravitational centre: every edition has it as a major focus. Part 5 (pornography services) was the early-deployment story for Bulletins 1 to 3. Part 7 (Ofcom's powers) has steadily intensified, peaking in Bulletins 4 and 5 as enforcement matures. Part 10 (communications offences) entered the picture only with the December 2025 priority-offence expansion: cyberflashing and encouraging serious self-harm are now operational triggers under sections 66A and 184 respectively.