Online Safety Act 2023: Prosecutions
(asked on 27th February 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many prosecutions have taken place under the false communications offence as set out in section 179 of the Online Safety Act 2023.
Answered by
Saqib Bhatti
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The false communications offence was introduced by the Online Safety Act 2023 (“the Act”). The communication offences in the Act, including the false communications offence were commenced on 31 January this year.
The Ministry of Justice publish information on prosecutions, convictions and sentence outcomes under specific legislation. The Act gained Royal Assent in October 2023; therefore, it is not yet available in the published figures. Figures up to December 2023 are intended for publication in May 2024.