Europe (non-EU)
United Kingdom
The Online Safety Act 2023 imposes binding illegal-content and child-safety risk-assessment duties enforced by Ofcom, but has no DSA-style ad-repository, researcher-access, or recommender-transparency mandates.
Scored against the DSA
Each obligation the DSA imposes on very large platforms, and whether United Kingdom’s law requires the same. Cells cover DSA-style, user-protective transparency and accountability only.
- Required by law
- Partial / emerging
- No such obligation
- Undetermined
Transparency
Public ad libraryDSA Art. 39
No statutory public ad-repository mandate; platforms run only voluntary ad libraries.
Source ↗Transparency reportsDSA Art. 15 / 24 / 42
OSA ss.77-78 require categorised services to publish annual transparency reports on Ofcom notice; Ofcom issuing first notices 2025-2026.
Source ↗Researcher data accessDSA Art. 40
No in-force mandate; Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 gives the Secretary of State a discretionary power to make researcher-access regulations, not yet exercised.
Source ↗Reach disclosureDSA Art. 24(2)
No public active-user disclosure mandate; user numbers only feed Ofcom's service-categorisation thresholds.
Source ↗
Accountability
Systemic risk assessmentDSA Art. 34–35
Illegal-content risk assessments in force since 17 March 2025; children's risk assessments since July 2025.
Source ↗Independent auditDSA Art. 37
No standing external-audit mandate; Ofcom may only commission skilled-person reports (s.104).
Source ↗Algorithmic transparencyDSA Art. 27 / 38
No recommender-transparency or chronological-feed mandate; children's codes require safer algorithmic configuration only.
Source ↗Regulator + penaltiesDSA Art. 49–52, 74
Ofcom, up to the greater of £18 million or 10% of global turnover.
Source ↗
Child protection
No profiling ads to minorsDSA Art. 26(3) / 28
The OSA does not ban profiling-based advertising to minors.
Source ↗Age assuranceBeyond the DSA
Highly effective age assurance required; Part 5 pornography duties and Part 3 children's-access duties in force 25 July 2025.
Source ↗Child-safety duty of careDSA Art. 28
Protection-of-children safety duties and children's risk assessments in force since July 2025.
Source ↗
On the horizon
What's being debated
Online Safety Act 2023 + Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (researcher access)
Systemic-risk duties, transparency reporting and an empowered regulator (Ofcom) under the OSA, now extended by a statutory framework for independent-researcher access to platform data.
Latest: Data (Use and Access) Act received Royal Assent June 2025; Ofcom published its researcher data-access report and roadmap in July 2025. source ↗
Compare every jurisdiction
United Kingdom is one of 30 non-EU jurisdictions we scored against the DSA. See them all side by side.