Assessing the impact of the Online Safety regime on users' ability to express themselves freely online and user privacy online

Ofcom is the regulator for video-sharing platforms established in the UK. Ofcom is preparing for new responsibilities to regulate a broader range of services under the proposed online safety regime.

As part of its activities under the new regime, Ofcom will seek to assess the impact of its policies and mitigate potential unintended consequences. Where the regime has the potential to impact users' ability to express themselves freely online and users' privacy online, we want to be able to build an evidence base to help ensure such impacts are proportionate.

Ofcom is seeking to build its knowledge on how it can assess the impact of the online safety regime on users' ability to express themselves freely online and users' privacy online in the UK. We consider that this work would be best informed by an economics-based approach.