Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2023 in preventing fraud.

The Online Safety Act (OSA) was passed in November 2023 and requires all in-scope platforms to tackle fraud on their platforms. The OSA’s first codes, dealing with illegal content, came into effect and were enforceable from March 2025. This means that all in-scope companies will need to put in place systems and processes to stop fraud from appearing on their platforms and services.

In addition, the Act’s fraudulent advertising duty will require the largest companies to appropriately tackle fraudulent advertising. According to Ofcom’s Online Safety Act Roadmap the draft codes for this duty will be published in draft in early 2026.

The Government is working closely with Ofcom on the implementation of the Online Safety Act and will continue to monitor its efficacy as the Act is enforced.