World Cup heightens UK compliance duties for online platforms

Gemma Erskine and Dom White of Pinsent Masons were commenting after the UK’s online safety regulator Ofcom published an open letter (3-page /270KB PDF) to online service providers in scope of the Online Safety Act (OSA) regarding the heightened risk to UK users of encountering harmful content and conduct regulated by the Act during the World Cup.

In the letter, Ofcom announced a live compliance programme to assess how services are tackling illegal hate content and warned that it will be monitoring services that have not met their duties under the OSA during the tournament, which starts on Thursday and runs until 19 July 2026. 

The OSA requires providers of in-scope services, being user-to-user (U2U) services, search services, or services on which the service provider publishes pornographic content, to design and operate their services in a way that prevents users from encountering certain types of illegal content, and take down illegal content quickly upon coming aware of it. Content that constitutes hate, harassment, threats of abuse or child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is among that categorised under the OSA as ‘priority’ illegal content warranting particular attention.

In its open letter, Ofcom highlighted how illegal content can be more prevalent during sporting events. It cited how harm can arise through content on various platforms, such as social media services, direct messaging services, livestreaming platforms and services with functionalities such as anonymous posting, as well as through reposting or content forwarding, or by virtue of the operation of recommender systems and engagement-based revenue models.           

The OSA further requires services that are likely to be accessed by children to take measures in respect of content that is legal but harmful to children. This can include abusive content or content inciting hatred. 

Ofcom’s open letter addresses both the duties related to illegal content and those concerning content that is harmful to children.

The regulator has published research carried out in partnership with anti-racism charity Kick It Out, emphasising the scale and severity of online abuse, including racist and threatening content directed at sportspeople, commentators and others in the public eye during worldwide sporting events. It cited further research by FIFA, the world governing body for football, that showed that when England played France in the quarter-final of the men’s 2022 FIFA World Cup, there was the largest recorded spike in online abuse targeting players. Ofcom said its research with Kick It Out further highlighted how sport-related content is often particularly attractive to children and young people.       

According to the regulator, online services can take a range of steps to meet their duties under its illegal content codes of practice. Those measures include ensuring content moderation teams are adequately resourced to remove illegal hate, threats, harassment and abuse rapidly when reported – including ensuring they can deal with spikes in demand. Ofcom also said platforms should set performance targets for the removal of illegal material, have accessible and easy-to-use reporting processes for illegal material, acknowledge complaints about activity users believe may be illegal, and provide a timeframe for responding to them, and provide accessible information about how complaints are handled. 

Ofcom also recommended providing service users with some control over the content they see. This includes enabling users to block or mute other users and to disable comments. The regulator further recommended that platforms provide staff with adequate training and a code of conduct for protecting users from illegal behaviour, including harassment, that they name a senior individual who is accountable for compliance with the illegal content duties, and that where services conduct on-platform testing of recommender systems, providers use the results of those tests to inform risk assessments.           

Gemma Erskine of Pinsent Masons said: "We have recently seen a trend of Ofcom moving away from investigating platforms that have failed to meet the basic duties of the OSA, such as putting in place age assurance for pornographic content or carrying out risk assessments, towards investigating the core content requirements of the Act. Ofcom’s announcement that it has launched a live compliance programme to assess how services are tackling illegal content during the World Cup showcases yet another example of this. Platforms, particularly user-to-user platforms, should be prepared and have measures in place during this time to ensure their compliance with the OSA." 

Dom White, also of Pinsent Masons, added that there is inherent tension embedded throughout the OSA between content moderation requirements and compliance with data protection law. He said the partnership Ofcom has established with football and policing organisations, among other bodies, to facilitate data sharing on online abuse of those who play or work in football for investigative and preventative purposes, has data protection implications.

“Ofcom is rightly leading on a very welcome initiative, but platforms and football bodies must not overlook the data privacy implications,” White said. “The new multi-agency partnership, bringing together police, football authorities and independent monitoring services, represents a significant step forward for protecting individuals in the spotlight. However, large-scale information sharing that targets individuals on the basis of race, sexual orientation or disability will require robust legal foundations. Efforts to moderate racist and discriminatory abuse will also inevitably involve processing highly sensitive personal data.”

“As bodies move quickly to protect players and pundits during the FIFA World Cup, they must ensure that data protection fundamentals are firmly in place. Done well, this initiative could provide a model for effective collaboration between regulators, law enforcement and sporting bodies, delivering meaningful change at future tournaments and helping to ensure that the failings of previous years are not repeated,” he added.