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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The UK Online Safety Act 2023 can cover user-to-user services, search services, and certain services that publish or display regulated provider pornographic content. For user-to-user and search services, coverage depends on what the service enables people to do, whether it has the required UK links, and whether a specific exemption applies—not on its name or where its operator is based.
Which kinds of online service can be covered?
The Act’s scope includes three broad service types:
- User-to-user services: services that allow content made, uploaded, or shared by one user to be encountered by another.
- Search services: internet services that are, or include, a search engine.
- Certain pornography services: internet services that publish or display regulated provider pornographic content, subject to the Act’s own conditions and exemptions.
For the first two types, the service must also meet the UK-link test and not fall within a relevant exemption. The precise statutory scope of pornography services is distinct; the two tests should not be conflated. See the Online Safety Act 2023.
What counts as a user-to-user service?
Section 3(1) of the Act defines a user-to-user service as an internet service through which content generated directly on the service by a user, or uploaded to or shared on it by a user, “may be encountered by another user, or other users.” The statutory definition focuses on whether the functionality makes that possible: the content need not actually be shared, and user-generated content need not make up any particular proportion of everything on the service.
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Features such as posts, comments, sharing, messaging, reactions to user content, and user-to-user interactions can therefore matter. Ofcom lists social media, video-sharing, private messaging, online marketplaces, dating, review services, file- and audio-sharing, discussion forums, information-sharing, and gaming services as examples. These are examples, not automatic rulings: a service’s actual functionality determines the analysis. Ofcom explains the category in its user-to-user service guidance.
What counts as a search service?
A search service is an internet service that is, or includes, a search engine. Ofcom describes search as enabling users to search across more than one website or database. Search is a separate regulated category from user-to-user service, although a single product may have both kinds of functionality.
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A vertical search engine may be treated differently for certain enhanced-category thresholds. That distinction does not mean every vertical search function is outside the Act’s general scope. The 2025 threshold rules distinguish vertical search for Category 2A threshold purposes from general or downstream search services.
Can a service outside the UK be covered?
Yes. An overseas base does not by itself put a service outside the Act. For user-to-user and search services, the UK-link test can be met if the service has a significant number of UK users, treats the UK as one of its target markets, or is capable of being used by people in the UK and there are reasonable grounds to believe it poses a material risk of significant harm to UK individuals. Ofcom confirms that the Act can apply to providers based outside the UK in its Online Safety Act explainer.
The Act does not set a numerical cutoff for “significant number” of UK users. Ofcom says providers should be able to explain their judgment, particularly if they conclude that they do not have a significant UK user base. Do not use the separate enhanced-category thresholds as a substitute for this UK-link assessment.
Which exemptions may apply?
Schedule 1 exemptions are limited and depend on detailed statutory conditions. They include certain services where the only user-generated content is email, SMS/MMS, or one-to-one live aural communication; services enabling only specified comments or reviews relating to provider content; and specified internal business services.
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Do not assume that all private messaging is exempt: Ofcom lists private messaging as a user-to-user example, while the statute exempts only particular forms and circumstances. Ofcom’s regulation checker can help identify potentially relevant exemptions, but the statutory conditions still need to be checked.
Who is the provider when a service has several parts?
Assess the functionality of the service or the relevant service component. Ofcom says the provider is generally the entity that controls who can use the user-to-user part. If no entity has that control and an individual or individuals do, the Act can treat that individual or those individuals as the provider. A volunteer group that posts on another company’s platform does not, just by doing so, automatically become the provider of that platform.
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A service offering both user-to-user features and a public search engine can be a combined service. The relevant duties apply to the respective components, so providers may need to assess each function in its own capacity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How do AI tools and summaries fit?
Ofcom’s regulation checker says some standalone generative AI tools and AI summaries on traditional search services may be regulated in line with search-service duties. One functional example is a response to a query that serves live results drawn from health-advice sites and patient forums. This does not establish that every chatbot or generative AI product is covered; the service’s functionality and the applicable statutory tests matter.
Does being covered mean every service has the same duties?
No. Basic coverage and enhanced duty tiers are separate questions. Regulated user-to-user and search services must address illegal-content risks and take relevant measures. Where children are likely to access a service, child-protection duties also apply. A smaller subset of services meeting category conditions faces additional duties under the 2025 Category 1, 2A and 2B Threshold Conditions Regulations.
| Category | Threshold conditions described in the 2025 regulations |
|---|---|
| Category 1 | Qualifying user-to-user service using a recommender system and more than 34 million average monthly active UK users; or more than 7 million such users with both forwarding or resharing and a recommender system. |
| Category 2A | Qualifying search service or combined service with more than 7 million average monthly active UK users on the search-engine part. Specified vertical search engines are excluded from this threshold definition. |
| Category 2B | Qualifying user-to-user service with direct messaging and more than 3 million average monthly active UK users on the user-to-user part. |
These are enhanced-category thresholds, not minimum user counts for the Act to cover a service at all. A service below them may still have UK links and be subject to baseline duties.
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How should a provider check whether a service is in scope?
- Inventory the service and its components. List user-to-user features, search functions, and any publication or display of regulated provider pornographic content.
- Map the user functionality. Record whether a user’s content can be encountered by another user, and whether a search function queries more than one website or database.
- Assess UK links. Consider UK user numbers, whether the UK is a target market, and—where relevant—the statutory material-risk route. Keep a record of the basis for the judgment.
- Check Schedule 1 carefully. Confirm that the service meets every condition of any exemption being considered; do not infer an exemption from a feature label.
- Identify the provider for each component. Determine who controls access to the relevant user-to-user functionality.
- Assess duties and thresholds separately. Consider illegal-content duties, whether children are likely to access the service, and whether an enhanced category applies.
- Use Ofcom’s tools and current compliance material. Consult the regulation checker and Ofcom compliance guidance. Providers with multiple services may need distinct assessments, and a combined service may have obligations in more than one capacity.
Check commencement for specific duties
Not every provision necessarily takes effect for every service type at the same time. The Home Office’s 2025 explanatory memorandum for CSEA reporting regulations said that, under that instrument at that time, the reporting requirement applied to regulated user-to-user services, while search and combined-service provisions were to commence after technical and operational pathways had been considered. For a decision about a specific duty, check the latest commencement instruments rather than assuming that an earlier timetable remains current.
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