United KingdomPower to Amend the Online Safety Act 2023 for Illegal AI-Generated Content (New Section 216A), with Progress Report Duty
Crime and Policing Act 2026, c. 20, ss. 248-249, inserting s. 216A into the Online Safety Act 2023
In force since .
An AI governance rule binding government bodies.
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- This provision lets the Secretary of State make regulations and imposes no duty on an app or organization by itself; duties on providers of AI services would arise only if regulations are made under section 216A of the Online Safety Act 2023.
- If regulations are made, they may impose on providers of AI services, meaning internet services capable of generating AI-generated content, duties like those on regulated user-to-user and search services in sections 9, 10, 26 and 27 of the Online Safety Act 2023 in relation to illegal AI-generated content and the use of AI services to commit or facilitate priority offenses.
- If regulations are made, they may extend to AI services provided from outside the United Kingdom.
- The Secretary of State must lay a progress report on regulations under section 216A before Parliament by , unless a draft instrument containing such regulations is laid before then.
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 216A is an enabling power and section 249 a duty of the Secretary of State to report to Parliament; neither requires a provider of an AI service to keep or produce a log or record unless regulations later say so.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Section 248 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 inserts section 216A into the Online Safety Act 2023, and the section came into force at Royal Assent. Section 249, which requires a progress report on regulations under section 216A, also came into force at Royal Assent. Royal Assent was given on .
Section 216A(1) lets the Secretary of State by regulations amend any provision of the Online Safety Act for or in connection with minimizing or mitigating the risks of harm to individuals in the United Kingdom presented by illegal AI-generated content and by the use of AI services for the commission or facilitation of priority offenses. In section 216A, 'AI' is short for artificial intelligence.
An 'AI service' is an internet service that is capable, or part of which is capable, of generating AI-generated content, no matter what proportion of the content on the service is AI-generated. The regulations may impose on providers of AI services the duties that sections 9 and 10 of the Online Safety Act impose on providers of regulated user-to-user services, and those that sections 26 and 27 impose on providers of regulated search services, or duties corresponding or similar to them.
The regulations may also impose on providers of AI services the fraudulent advertising duties of sections 38 and 39 and the requirement in section 66 to report child sexual exploitation and abuse content, or corresponding or similar requirements. The regulations may confer on Ofcom, in relation to AI services, functions corresponding to its fees, information and enforcement functions, including powers to impose monetary penalties.
The regulations may make provision having the effect that AI services provided from outside the United Kingdom are regulated by the Act. The regulations may not amend section 234 of the Online Safety Act ('harm' etc).
Section 249 requires the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament, no later than , a report about the progress made towards making regulations under section 216A, unless a draft of a statutory instrument containing regulations under that section is laid before Parliament before that date.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app generates content with AI or deploys a chatbot.