Pre-screening by Internet Providers
The Inquiry recommends that the UK government makes it mandatory for all regulated providers of search services and user-to-user services to pre-screen for known child sexual abuse material.
- The Online Safety Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It requires providers of regulated search services and user-to-user services to take proactive measures to identify, remove and report child sexual abuse material (Online Safety Act 2023, Part 4, Chapter 2).
How was this evidence gathered?
Response
Accepted in Part
Response
Accepted in PartWe accept the need to hold companies to account for removing, reporting and limiting the spread of child sexual abuse material on their services. The UK’s world- leading Online Safety Bill will address this by including the strongest duties for companies to identify and remove child sexual abuse content from their services. We expect the bill to receive Royal Assent this Parliamentary session.
Progress Timeline
Online Safety Act child safety duties commenced 25 July 2025, imposing new duties on regulated online services to assess and mitigate risks to children. Ofcom monitoring implementation and enforcement. Government assessing whether additional device-level interventions are needed.
Leveraging Online Safety Act powers; monitoring implementation; assessing additional device-level interventions. Illegal content safety duty commenced 17 March 2025.
Published Evidence
Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.
Professor Alexis Jay told Home Affairs Committee that £187m was spent on IICSA and "to date none of its final recommendations had been implemented." Called for "full implementation" saying "get it done."
View detailed findings
As of December 2024, none of the 20 final report recommendations had been implemented. The previous government's response was described by Prof Jay as "very weak and, at times, apparently disingenuous."