UK OSA Section 11 - Children's risk assessment duties (provider of a regulated user-to-user service likely to be accessed by…
Conduct a suitable and sufficient children's risk assessment evaluating the risk of harm from primary priority, priority, and other harmful content
Where this comes from
Provision: Section 11 - Children's risk assessment duties (provider of a regulated user-to-user service likely to be accessed by children)
Instrument: UK Online Safety Act 2023
Citation: Online Safety Act 2023, c. 50, s 11 (timing: Sch 3 Pt 2 para 5); read with ss 60-62 (content that is harmful to children) and s 37 (likely to be accessed by children)
Text version: Online Safety Act 2023 c. 50, revised text as displayed on legislation.gov.uk on 2026-09-21 ('up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 21 September 2026'), including the amendments made by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 in force from 29 June 2026 (S.I. 2026/689) and s 66 in force from 7 April 2026 (S.I. 2026/262). The as-enacted text is superseded.
Who it applies to
It applies when all of these are true:
- Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18
- Service allows user-generated content
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- Assessment covers data flows, the risks to the affected group, and likelihood/severity
- Each identified risk has a mitigation mapped to a concrete control or backlog item
- The assessment is dated, has named sign-off, and is scheduled for review
- The assessment is retrievable for regulators on request
- Signed assessment document is stored and version-controlled
Questions people ask
- Does UK OSA Section 11 - Children's risk assessment duties (provider of a regulate… apply to my service?
- It applies when Service is likely to be accessed by children under 18; Service allows user-generated content.
- From when does this apply?
- UK OSA Section 11 - Children's risk assessment duties (provider of a regulate… applies from 10 January 2024. Its current status is: in force.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.