16
Online Safety Act scope insufficient for 'legal but harmful' content and misinformation.
Conclusion
The Online Safety Act will lead to some improvements, but is designed only to protect users from harm that is illegal or affects children. The decision not to include measures related to the algorithmic amplification of “legal but harmful” content, such as misinformation, means that full enforcement of the Act would have made little difference to the online environment that helped to incite the violence of last summer. (Conclusion, Paragraph 45)
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 17 October 2025. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.
Source
Report
2nd Report – Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms
11 Jul 2025
HC 441
Addressee Bodies
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Timeline
Recommendation age
1.2 yr
Report published
11 Jul 2025