Ofcom admits challenges collecting OSA fines

Appearing before the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, Director of Enforcement Suzanne Cater acknowledged that the majority of penalties issued under the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) remain unpaid, exposing structural limitations in the regulator's enforcement powers.

Cater told the Committee that while Ofcom recently received another instalment, most penalties remain outstanding. Ofcom has issued more than £7 million across 11 service providers under the OSA, including a £1.4 million fine against 8579 LLC. 

Officials highlighted corporate evasion tactics and jurisdictional boundaries as primary collection hurdles. Business disruption measures, such as court-ordered UK access restrictions via internet service providers (ISPs), cannot be deployed solely to recover debts once an operator complies with the legislation. Furthermore, recovering registered judgment debts proves difficult when foreign entities lack domestic assets.

In related news, Ofcom has published details of research looking into how adults encounter or experience different types of sensitive and harmful content online.

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