Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Online Safety Act 2023 (Category 1, Category 2A and Category 2B Threshold Conditions) Regulations 2025.

(2) These Regulations come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations “active United Kingdom user” means—

(a)in relation to a regulated user-to-user service(2), any United Kingdom user(3) who has accessed the user-to-user part of that service;

(b)in relation to the search engine(4) of a regulated search service(5) or the search engine of a combined service(6), any United Kingdom user who has encountered(7) search content(8) in or via search results(9) of that regulated search service or combined service.

Category 1 threshold conditions

3.—(1) The Category 1 threshold conditions(10) are met by a regulated user-to-user service where, in respect of the user-to-user part of that service, it—

(a)(i)has an average number of monthly active United Kingdom users that exceeds 34 million, and

(ii)uses a content recommender system, or

(b)(i)has an average number of monthly active United Kingdom users that exceeds 7 million,

(ii)uses a content recommender system, and

(iii)provides a functionality for users to forward or share regulated user-generated content(11) on the service with other users of that service.

(2) In paragraph (1), a “content recommender system” means a system, used by the provider of a regulated user-to-user service in respect of the user-to-user part of that service, that uses algorithms which by means of machine learning or other techniques determines, or otherwise affects, the way in which regulated user-generated content of a user, whether alone or with other content, may be encountered by other users of the service.

Category 2A threshold conditions

4. The Category 2A threshold conditions(12) are met by a search engine of a regulated search service or a combined service where it—

(a)has an average number of monthly active United Kingdom users that exceeds 7 million, and

(b)is not a search engine which—

(i)only enables a user to search selected websites or databases in relation to a specific topic, theme or genre of search content, and

(ii)is facilitated by means of an arrangement between the provider of a regulated search service or combined service with one or more entities, which relies on an application programming interface or other technical means to present search results to users.

Category 2B threshold conditions

5. The Category 2B threshold conditions(13) are met by a regulated user-to-user service where, in respect of the user-to-user part of that service, it—

(a)has an average number of monthly active United Kingdom users that exceeds 3 million, and

(b)provides a functionality for users to send direct messages to other users of the same service which is designed so that messages cannot be encountered by any other users of that service unless further action is taken by the user who sent the message or a user who received the message.

Determining the number of active United Kingdom users

6.—(1) A service’s average number of monthly active United Kingdom users for the purposes of regulations 3 to 5 is the mean number of active United Kingdom users per month for the relevant period.

(2) The “relevant period” in relation to an assessment under section 95, 96 or 97 of the Online Safety Act 2023 is the six-month period ending with the month preceding the month in which that assessment begins.

(3) Where the service has been in operation for less than six months, reference to “the six-month period” in paragraph (2) is to be read as “the period for which the service has been in operation”.