Legislation – The Online Safety Act 2023 (Priority Offences) (Amendment) Regulations 2025

These Regulations amend the priority offences set out in Schedule 7 to the Online Safety Act 2023 (c. 50) (“the Act”). Criminal offences listed in Schedule 7 to the Act are made ‘priority offences’ by section 59(7)(c) of the Act. Part 3 of the Act imposes duties on providers of certain internet services in relation to priority offences and content which amounts to these offences.

These Regulations amend Schedule 7 to the Act by adding offences under section 184 of the Act (encouraging or assisting serious self-harm) into the Schedule. These Regulations also revoke and replace paragraph 28A of Schedule 7, adding the offence under section 66A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42) (sending etc photograph or film of genitals) and retaining the offence under section 66B of that Act (sharing or threatening to share intimate photograph or film), which was originally added to Schedule 7 by S.I. 2024/1188.

The Secretary of State considers it appropriate to add these offences to Schedule 7 because of the prevalence of content on regulated user-to-user services or regulated search services that amounts to the new offences, the risk of harm to individuals in the United Kingdom presented by such content and the severity of that harm.

A full Impact Assessment has not been prepared for this instrument because the impacts are expected to be minimal and fall below the de minimis threshold.