Do you need to get to grips with the new online safety regulation? Here is a focused course for you - all in one place, all in five evenings!
Regulation - Protection - Compliance
Leading experts discuss and illustrate the regulatory and protection requirements under the Online Safety Act 2023.
When: 4 - 8 November from 16:45 - 21:00
Location: The TMT Law Institute at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, 67-69 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JB
Fee: £1800 + VAT (catering and reading materials included)
We offer 3 full scholarships for charities. Please submit a supporting statement of no more than 200 words describing your charity's impact on the community no later than 2nd October 2024 to ccls-exec-ed@qmul.ac.uk. The outcome will be announced by 10th October.
Ofcom estimates that more than 100,000 online services will be within scope of the new rules. This number encompasses businesses of all sizes from micro- to medium to large businesses.[1] The reach of the Online Safety Act goes beyond “the” big tech search engines and social media companies, and the regulation will impact diverse platforms, online services and apps.
It affects a range of different businesses and services, in addition to search engines and social media companies, including video-platforms, online forums, online gaming, e-commerce platforms, technology providers, news and media businesses, political apps & platforms, online gaming, dating apps, direct messaging apps, online meeting platforms and pornography providers.
Furthermore, the Act has extraterritorial reach to cover those that have links to the UK as defined in the Act and contains provisions requiring blocking of content or payment, thereby impacting access and payment services. It also raises questions about safety technologies and age-assurance technologies and their accreditation and use by platforms. Finally, it raises questions about the safety of interactions on encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp, as well as the safety of encryption itself.
[1] Ofcom’s Approach to Implementing the Online Safety Act, 26. October 2023, see https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/270215/10-23-approach-os-implementation.pdf
The regulatory requirements are illustrated by examples and case-studies. The mode of delivery is a mixture of presentations by experts in the fields, panel & audience discussions, as well as interactive case-studies.
This course covers an overview of online safety regulation, who is within scope, the new online safety duties in respect of content harmful to children and illegal content duties, including special measures against Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Materials and Terrorism Content. It covers the secondary duties related to transparency, record-keeping and reporting. The Course will analyse the latest Ofcom Guidelines and Ofcom’s Enforcement Powers under the Act. Additionally, it analyses the requirements for content moderation and, the use of accredited and pro-active technology, as well as regulated entities’ obligations to protect freedom of speech and privacy. It looks at the duties to protect content of democratic importance, journalistic content, and news publisher content. Moreover, it covers how adults’ safety is treated, and the issue of user-identification, for example on dating sites. Furthermore, sessions will be dedicated to the new obligations in respect of advertising scams and fraud prevention, the dissemination of disinformation, and the regulation of pornography and dating services. We examine the requirements for age assurance. Finally, we cover the new criminal offences in the Online Safety Act.
This course will provide you with a structured analysis of the provisions of the Act and associated guidance, giving you a good working knowledge of Online Safety.
This course is ideal for: